Most of life is not spent in corporate worship services, Bible studies, or mission trips. Rather, most of life happens in ordinary routines. We get up, eat breakfast, go to work, raise children, and take care of household chores. Even our time spent sleeping is part of these ordinary rhythms. Because so much of our lives take place in everyday contexts, we should ask what Scripture says about them. If most of the Christian life happens in the ordinary, how should we think about these daily moments?
So far, I have laid a foundation by looking at Ecclesiastes and Solomon’s wisdom. A right perspective on any part of life begins with God. This makes sense because life itself begins with him. He is our Creator, the One who made everything. If we want to understand anything properly, we must keep God at the center.
That is precisely Solomon’s point. He tells us, “Remember your Creator” (Ecc 12:1). Solomon also wants us to see that our Creator is not far off or uninterested. He is sovereign and intimately involved in every event, season, and circumstance. Everything unfolds according to his wise and good providence.
We also need to keep eternity in view. It is easy to get trapped in what I call “the fog of time.” We think about the coming day or maybe the coming week, but Solomon reminds us that eternity lies before us. This matters for at least two reasons.
First, our present life is temporary. We should not invest too heavily in perishable things. They will not last. Second, our lives do not simply end with death. There is more to come. That is why the narrator of Ecclesiastes says, “Fear God and keep his commandments” (Ecc 12:13). The way we live now has eternal significance. Therefore, we should fear God and obey what he, our Creator, commands.
He adds, “For God will bring every deed into judgment with every secret thing, whether good or evil” (Ecc 12:14). Our actions have consequences, both now and in the future. What we do in this life truly matters, and it will matter for eternity.
This understanding leads us to another important element of eternity that we will consider next: the continuity of eternal life.
The Judgment Seat of Christ
Paul writes, “For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may receive what is due for what he has done in the body, whether good or evil” (2Co 5:10). Perhaps you wonder why believers must face Christ’s judgment seat. Hasn’t God already declared us not guilty in Christ? Hasn’t he already justified us? Why will we be judged?
On the one hand, God judges us according to Christ’s merit. Those in Christ are indeed not guilty. However, there is a secondary judgment, so to speak, that we undergo. Notice what Paul says in 1 Corinthians 3:
“According to the grace of God given to me, like a skilled master builder I laid a foundation, and someone else is building upon it. Let each one take care how he builds upon it. For no one can lay a foundation other than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ. Now if anyone builds on the foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw—each one’s work will become manifest, for the Day will disclose it, because it will be revealed by fire, and the fire will test what sort of work each one has done. If the work that anyone has built on the foundation survives, he will receive a reward. If anyone’s work is burned up, he will suffer loss, though he himself will be saved, but only as through fire.” (1 Corinthians 3:10-15)
Paul focuses on Christian service. We all build on the foundation of Christ, and yet we do not all use the same materials. Some build with gold, while others build with straw. Clearly, some materials are better than others. He warns that “each one’s work will become manifest” (1Co 3:13). If it is not obvious now, it will be on “the Day.” That day refers to the return of Christ, when “we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ” (2Co 5:10). Even as redeemed, justified people, we will be judged. We will “receive what is due for what [we have] done in the body, whether good or evil” (2Co 5:10).
Paul says we will either “receive a reward” or “suffer loss” (1Co 3:14-15). He makes clear this is not the loss of eternal life, saying, “If anyone’s work is burned up, he will suffer loss, though he himself will be saved” (1Co 3:15). Evidently, there is some kind of reward system in heaven, though we might not know the details. Whatever we receive, we can trust we will be perfectly satisfied because we will be free from sin and in the presence of our God and Savior. I have often said that if the Lord assigns me to custodial work on the new earth, I will gladly scrub toilets there.
Randy Alcorn writes in Heaven:
We have the assurance of Scripture that all believers will survive the fire of testing and be raised. But it is not only ourselves that will outlast this world and be carried over to the new one. It is what we do with our lives. Our righteous works will follow us to Heaven (Revelation 14:13). Not only will some things that God has made survive his judgment but so will some things we have done. Products of faithful lives will endure. They will be purified and ‘laid bare,’ so their beauty will be forever seen. God’s fire will not destroy the whole Earth; it will destroy all that displeases him. But there is much that pleases him, and these things will endure the fire to be reconstituted after the final resurrection of the dead. Not only will acts of obedience and spiritual sacrifices be carried over from one world to the next, but everything else good will also last forever.
When we think about heaven, we tend to imagine something utterly unlike our present lives. It will certainly be different, and it will surely be better. However, I do not believe it will be entirely foreign. God designed humanity to live on this earth with plants and animals. He gave us bodies to walk around in. He gave us friendship and the ability to talk and touch. He gave us work. He told Adam “to work” and “keep” the garden (Ge 2:15). He gave us food and drink. If that was his original design, and if we know he will make a new heaven and a new earth when Christ returns, why would we not expect a good deal of continuity between this life and the next?
Traces of Heaven on Earth
In Psalm 90, Moses prays, “Let the favor of the Lord our God be upon us, and establish the work of our hands” (Ps 90:17). The Hebrew word translated as “establish” can mean “make permanent.” Moses is asking God to give permanence to their righteous deeds. He may have only meant this life, but the context of Psalm 90 suggests a continuity that extends beyond this present age: “Establish our work now and forever.”
Scripture offers many examples of life on the new earth mirroring life on the present earth. We see plants and animals in the age to come, just as we do now. We have bodies, which Christ will raise and reunite with our souls. Scripture describes eating and drinking on the new earth. We also see hints of work because that was part of God’s original design. Revelation 22 mentions serving the Lord in the renewed creation. Isaiah promises a time when swords become plowshares and spears become pruning hooks (Isa 2:4). While that promise involves the end of war, notice that God does not destroy the weapons. He transforms them into farming tools. Why would he do this if we have no work to do in the new age?
Thomas Aquinas, in the thirteenth century, believed heaven is more spiritual than physical, a place where only our minds remain active in eternal contemplation. Later, an eighteenth-century Catholic priest named Boudreau challenged this view. He argued that we are by nature active, both in mind and body, and heaven will not undo our nature. He pointed out that Christ himself enjoyed the beatific vision while on earth, yet he preached, traveled, drank, slept, and did many other ordinary activities. The same was true after his resurrection.
We have countless reasons to believe there will be continuity between our present lives and the life to come. That life will be radically better, but it will not be radically different. It will feel very familiar. If you want to study this more, I recommend Randy Alcorn’s Heaven. He provides a thorough and helpful resource.
Why does this idea matter? A purely secular worldview would say that everything we do now is ultimately meaningless. This was Solomon’s point when he talked about “under the sun” thinking. If there is no eternity, then none of our daily activities matter beyond the grave. But if there is an eternity, and if there is real continuity between this life and the next, then even mundane acts are significant. We eat and drink here, and Scripture says we will eat and drink there. We work here, and we will work there. Most of our lives now will carry into eternity, though sin and all its effects will be removed.
Think about it this way. Our present lives as believers are only a taste of what is coming. We often notice this most clearly on Sunday mornings when we gather for worship. We sing, praise God, and encourage one another. We may think, This is what heaven will be. We know this is not heaven, and this world remains tainted by sin, but we receive glimpses of paradise even now. Believe it or not, we can experience these glimpses Monday through Saturday too. How? In the same way we will sing, eat, rest, and work in heaven, we also sing, eat, rest, and work on earth. We will enjoy the presence of God in heaven, yet we can enjoy his presence right now. We can sense it whether we are at church on Sunday or washing dishes on Tuesday.
Worship in the Everyday Moments
I have a book of prayers and liturgies for ordinary moments, and this week I came across a prayer for washing windows. It goes like this:
As we labor to cleanse glass panes
of grime smeared and blearing
call us to consider, O Lord of light,
the same work of your Word and of your Spirit,
every cleansing of our hearts,
our inclinations,
our habits,
of such stain as would block
the passage of your light through our lives.Meet us now, O Lord, in the washing of windows.
In this small toil, call us to contemplate
how the glass is not set in the window frame
in order to be seen,
but to be seen through.
Then show us how our lives also have been fitted
to their various frames in times and places of your choosing
that your glory might in those places be evidenced.Meet us now, O Lord, in the washing of windows.
Your children are the windows
through which the world sees you best.
Ever cleanse and sanctify us therefore,
not that we might be noticed for our virtues,
but that your light through us might
be ever more clearly witnessed,
your radiance and your beauty
unclouded by our sin.Meet us now, O Lord, in the washing of windows.
Meet us and make of us more fitting casements
for the coursings of your eternal light.Amen.
This prayer illustrates an important truth. Worship is not limited to Sunday mornings. We can worship God any day of the week, even while doing something as “ordinary” as washing windows. In fact, we can worship him not only during that task but by doing that task. “Whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God” (1Co 10:31). So yes, we can wash windows to the glory of God.
Someone might ask, “How can washing windows be worship?” After all, even unbelievers wash windows. The difference lies in our motivation and our mindset. The author of that prayer puts God at the center of his work. While he cleans, he meditates on God’s truth. He sees parallels between the work of his hands and the ongoing work of God and Christ. He recognizes that he is imaging God as he does this ordinary chore. Best of all, he is aware of God’s presence. He prays, “Meet us now, O Lord, in the washing of windows.”
Yes, we can enjoy God’s presence in ordinary life and glimpse heaven while scrubbing glass. True, everything we do remains tainted by sin in this fallen world, including our worship on Sunday. Even so, it can still be beautiful. Solomon says:
I perceived that there is nothing better for them than to be joyful and to do good as long as they live; also that everyone should eat and drink and take pleasure in all his toil—this is God’s gift to man. (Ecclesiastes 3:12-13)
Unless we are in Christ and reconciled to God through him, we will not discover the joy and pleasure Solomon describes. We might find reasons to get out of bed each day, and we might enjoy certain mundane tasks. Yet apart from Christ, deep, lasting fulfillment will always escape us because we will see our expiration date looming. We will not see a continuity between this life and the next. We will keep pushing the same boulder uphill until life ends, and any meaning we thought we had will be gone. The unbeliever will stand before God’s judgment seat without Christ’s atoning work and enter into permanent despair.
This principle, however, applies to everyone, believer or unbeliever: If the Lord is not at the center of our work, then we will not find lasting satisfaction or joy. An unbeliever, who remains separated from God, cannot find genuine meaning. Even a believer may fail to see work as sacred and forfeit these blessings by dividing life into “sacred” and “secular” compartments. Paul says some will see their work burned up on the Day of judgment, causing them to “suffer loss” (1Co 3:15). The same apostle writes, “Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the inheritance as your reward. You are serving the Lord Christ” (Col 3:23-24). Our so-called secular work is actually sacred service offered to Christ.
Christ’s Dignification of the Ordinary
Earlier, I mentioned that Christ dignified the ordinary. For most of his earthly life, he performed no public miracles. John says his first sign was changing water into wine at the wedding in Cana (Jn 2:11). This means that for about thirty years of his thirty-three years on earth, he did not engage in the extraordinary ministry we often associate with him. Instead, he lived an ordinary life until the time came for his public calling.
Luke describes a moment when Jesus was twelve years old and his parents could not find him. They discovered him in the temple, sitting with the teachers. Luke ends that account by saying, “And Jesus increased in wisdom and in stature and in favor with God and man” (Lk 2:52). This reminds us that he was fully human. We tend to forget that when we read about his miracles and his transfiguration. Yet Jesus experienced normal human growth. He wore diapers as a baby and likely played outdoors as a child. He eventually worked to support himself. He lived a typical life before the start of his public ministry.
I began to wonder what an average day looked like for Jesus before he entered public ministry. We do not know for sure because Scripture does not tell us, but we can make a few reasonable inferences. Paul says Jesus was “born under the law,” and we know he kept the law perfectly (Gal 4:4). He must have joined in the usual rhythms of first-century Jewish life, which likely meant rising early, washing, praying, reciting the Shema in Deuteronomy 6, and giving thanks to God. Even after he began his ministry, he sometimes went alone to pray before sunrise (Lk 5:16). It seems likely that he had a habit of beginning his day with private devotion.
Scripture tells us that Jesus was a carpenter. In Mark 6, people ask, “Is not this the carpenter?” (Mk 6:3). Before beginning his public ministry, that is how his neighbors in Nazareth knew him. We also know his adoptive father, Joseph, worked as a carpenter. Perhaps Joseph taught him the trade, and they may have worked together until Joseph died.
It is striking to realize Jesus was not locked away in a study all day, reading the Scriptures or spending every moment in prayer. He worked long hours with his hands, building or fixing tables, doors, and plows. He likely did some of this work in a small shop, but he also traveled to various homes and locations to complete jobs. This business supported him and, most likely, his mother after Joseph passed away. He had to exchange money, bill his clients, save for supplies, and spend what he earned.
In a typical first-century Jewish home, the midday meal might include bread, olives, vegetables, and perhaps dried fish. Jesus would have returned to work afterward, and he also would have performed the usual household chores. He had to run errands, fetch water, look after any animals, and gather fuel for cooking.
As evening came and the sun set, he probably returned home to share another meal with his family. This would include more prayer, Scripture reading, or at least a recitation of the Word. Jesus was likely in bed only a few hours after nightfall, rolling out a straw-filled mat on the floor. This sounds like a simple, even humble, daily routine.
Yet “ordinary” may not be the best word. We are talking about “the Word [who] became flesh and dwelt among us” (Jn 1:14). This same Word “in the beginning … was with God and … was God. All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made” (Jn 1:1-2). God the Creator took on humanity and spent most of his life in a routine that looked much like ours. He was born, grew up, worked, and carried out chores. He did not disdain the mundane. Because he is God in the flesh, he dignified our so-called ordinary. We might even say he sanctified it.
Years ago, many Christians wore bracelets bearing the letters “WWJD?” for “What would Jesus do?” He would work to support his family, draw water from the well, feed the animals, and eat regular meals. He would do all the daily things we do, even though he came “to save his people from their sins” (Mt 1:21). He did not avoid or reject the everyday. Instead, as Hebrews says, “We do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin” (Heb 4:15). Surely he was tempted to complain about daily responsibilities, but he never did. He submitted to his Father and did everything for his Father’s glory.
Jesus did not divide his life into sacred and secular. Whether he was praying, worshiping in the synagogue, sharing a meal, or repairing a table, he obeyed his heavenly Father. He reminds us that every moment matters. Every task can be sacred if we dedicate it to the Lord. We should resist thinking only “spiritual” activities matter. While our public worship, prayer, Bible study, and disciple-making are essential, we can find God at work in every aspect of life. We need only open our eyes to see the rich design he intended from the beginning.
Think again about Jesus’ life before his public ministry. Every nail he drove, every piece of wood he shaped, every meal he ate, and every moment he spent with family and friends were part of the perfect righteousness he accomplished for our sake. Through faith, we are clothed in that righteousness. Those early years are not described in Scripture, but they still belong to the perfect life that secured our salvation. Remember that his death would have been meaningless without his life, and most of that life was lived in the ordinary.
The Eternal Significance of Everyday Life
When we consider these two truths—the continuity between this life and the life to come, and the fact that Jesus spent so much of his earthly life in ordinary tasks—we should realize that all of life has eternal significance. Paul reminds us, “In the Lord your labor is not in vain” (1Co 15:58). Life is often hard now. We groan under the weight of a fallen world where temptations and struggles abound. Yet it will not always be this way. When Christ returns, we may still do chores and follow routines, but every unpleasant aspect of our work will be gone. Even now, we can find joy in these tasks. We can catch a glimpse of heaven while we do them. We are talking about what God created us to do. We are talking about what Christ himself did. We are talking about what God redeemed us to do for all eternity.
Recommended Reading
Heaven: A Comprehensive Guide to Everything the Bible Says About Our Eternal Home by Randy Alcorn
Every Good Endeavor: Connecting Your Work to God's Work by Timothy Keller
Don’t Waste Your Life by John Piper
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