We hope you enjoy this re-post from January 28, 2013. Be blessed! The Today’s Quote From God Team

Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with thy might; for there is no work, nor device, nor knowledge, nor wisdom, in the grave, whither thou goest. – Ecclesiastes 9:10 (KJV)

In his book Up the Organization (published in 1970), former Avis Rent-A-Car CEO Robert Townsend wrote the following about excellence in the workplace:

Do it [your job] excellently because, if it’s not excellent, it will neither be fun nor profitable. And if you’re not in business for fun and profit, then what are you doing there?

Have you ever arrived at your workplace only to be greeted by the following thought, “I REALLY don’t want to be here today!”? Do you have to drag yourself out of bed each day by the force of will in order to face the mundane dreadfulness that is your job? If so, then it will be nigh impossible to do your job excellently, according to Mr. Townsend, since there is no fun in the job.

Although I completely understand where Mr. Townsend was coming from when he penned his words about excellence, our duty is not to be excellent just when it is fun. Our duty is to be excellent even when it is not fun. We can be excellent even when we hate what we’re doing because excellence is a choice, not an emotion. Fun or not, though, I do agree with a portion of what Mr. Townsend wrote. If you are excellent in what you do, profit will come.

Such was the case with Joseph. There was no intrinsic joy in being a slave in Potipher’s house or a prisoner in the jailhouse. Yet Joseph pursued his duties with excellence, and God made whatever he did to prosper (Genesis 39:2-3, 23). Of course, God eventually lifted up Joseph out of the prison and made him second ruler in all of the kingdom of Egypt. There, in that position, he found not only prosperity, he found joy, too (Genesis 41:51).

Perhaps God has something better for you to do in your vocational life. But, for now, you are where you are. Whatever work the Lord gives you today – whether glamorous or mundane and whether you want to do it or not – do it with all your might! Do the duty that lies nearest, for God gave you the work. If you pursue it diligently, He will be pleased, and He may just reward your diligent stewardship of the thing you hate by replacing it with the thing you love.

Shop hundreds of Christian-themed products at our new store! A portion of each purchase goes to support the work of Today’s Quote From God. To visit the Today’s Quote From God Store, please click here.