<p>What if work was never the thing to survive on the way to your real life — but the very medium through which you offer yourself to God?</p><p>In the finale of our &quot;Get(ing) Out of Work&quot; series we consider a few of the ancient, yet ever new, practices that the church has used to help God&#39;s people stay in step with the Spirit during the daily rhythms of work and rest, rest and work. </p><p>Drawing on Irenaeus and Hans Urs von Balthasar, the message recovers an old picture of the human being: not merely shaped clay, body and soul, but body and soul and spirit together — the complete person, bearing not just the image but the likeness of God (Genesis 1:26). To be spiritual is &quot;by definition to be moved by the Spirit of the Logos,&quot; Christ our Beginning, our Salvation, our End.</p><p>This reframes work entirely. With Dorothy Sayers, work is &quot;not primarily a thing one does to live, but the thing one lives to do… the medium in which one offers oneself to God.&quot; We do not offer our work to God; following Paul in Romans 12, we offer our whole selves — as a living sacrifice — through it. So we stop striving to get out of work the identity, prosperity, and purpose it was never meant to supply, and instead receive from it the life we&#39;re made for: the good work God &quot;got ready for us to do&quot; (Ephesians 2:10).</p><p>Then the practical question: how? The answer is ancient and unglamorous — habits. As Annie Dillard wrote, &quot;How we spend our days is, of course, how we spend our lives… A schedule defends from chaos and whim. They are a net for catching days.&quot; Three habits to structure an ordinary day:</p><ul><li><strong>Enter</strong> the day with the Lord&#39;s Prayer for Work — before the phone, before the lunches, perhaps before you&#39;re out of bed: &quot;I give my whole self to you through the work you have given me this day.&quot;</li><li><strong>Recollect</strong> yourself midday with a centering prayer from Psalm 139 — breathing in, &quot;I am…&quot;; breathing out, &quot;…still with you.&quot;</li><li><strong>Exit</strong> the day through the Examen — asking the Spirit where your work was out of step with Jesus, where it was in rhythm, and letting him lead you into rest.</li></ul><p>How we start matters. How we stay centered matters. And how we exit our labors into the rest of the night, made new, matters just as much.</p><p><strong>Reflection:</strong> Where was your work out of step with Jesus today, and where was it in rhythm with him?</p><p><strong>Scripture:</strong> Acts 2:1-3, 38-39 · Psalm 104:23-30 · Genesis 1:26 · Romans 12:1 · Ephesians 2:9-10 · 1 Thessalonians 5:23</p><p><strong>Voices/Quotes:</strong> Annie Dillard, <em>The Writing Life</em> · Dorothy Sayers · Tom Nelson, <em>Work Matters</em> · Irenaeus of Lyons · Hans Urs von Balthasar</p><p><br></p><p>Christ City Church is a small faith family following Jesus together in east Dallas. We gather Sundays at 10:10 AM at 642 Brookhurst Dr., Dallas, TX 75218, in the chapel @ LHB.</p>