Jordan Raynor - The Word Before Work: A Monday-Through-Friday Devotional to Help You Find Eternal Purpose in Your Daily Work

Prior to writing this devotional, I had read my Bible front to back a few times. But for The Word Before Work, I did something new. I read every word of Scripture looking for just one thing: what God has to say about what work hes called us to do, why hes called us to do it, and how we are to work in accordance with his commands. Through that exercise, I identified more than one thousand passages of Scripture that relate to our work. This book contains 260 of the most relevantone for each workday of the year if you work Monday through Friday. If you dont work Monday through Friday, feel free to create your own cadence for reading through this devotional.

Ive dedicated the first four weeks of this devotional to helping you build a foundational understanding of what Gods Word says about your work:

• In weeks 12, well sketch out the biblical narrative of work.

• In week 3, well see why exactly our work matters for eternity in light of that narrative.

• And in week 4, well look at five ways those truths inform how we should work today.

The rest of this book will walk you through the whole of Scripture, focusing on the passages most relevant to your work. In an effort to add some variety to your reading each week, I will not be walking you straight from Genesis to Revelation (youll thank me when we get to the minor prophets). Instead, well alternate between sequential readings of the Old Testament, New Testament, and Wisdom Literature (Job, Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, and Song of Solomon) in the following rhythm:

• MondaysOld Testament

• TuesdaysNew Testament

• WednesdaysWisdom Literature

• ThursdaysOld Testament

• FridaysNew Testament

There are a few things I would recommend you consider doing on your nonwork days:

• Catch up on any devotionals you missed during the workweek.

• Pray more than you would during the week for your work and co-workers.

• Dig into the supplemental materials Ive included with each devotional.

In addition to the content within these pages, Ive created a website, TheWordBeforeWork.com, where Ive included free resources to help you dive deeper into the topic of each days reading. These resources include the following:

• additional Scripture readings

• my interviews with actors, executives, FBI agents, carpenters, novelists, and more on how theyre responding to the biblical truth shared in the devotional

• my interviews with pastors and theologians (such as Tim Keller, N. T. Wright, John Mark Comer, Randy Alcorn, Ruth Chou Simons, Mark Batterson, and Gisela Kreglinger) who help illuminate the biblical text

You can dig into these resources throughout the week or only on the weekendwhenever you want! But trust me: You wont want to miss them. Bookmark TheWordBeforeWork.com now to maximize your experience with this book.