About My Father’s Business: The Sacredness of Secular Work

 

When the twelve-year-old Jesus stayed behind in the temple, astonishing the teachers with His understanding, His earthly parents found Him and questioned why He had caused them such distress. His reply, recorded in Luke 2:49, is both profound and revealing: “Wist ye not that I must be about my Father’s business?” (KJV).

 

It’s a striking moment. At just twelve, Jesus already had a clear sense of divine purpose. And yet, what follows is perhaps even more astonishing. The very next verses tell us, “And he went down with them, and came to Nazareth, and was subject unto them…” (Luke 2:51). The Son of God—the Messiah—returned home and lived in quiet submission. No miracles. No preaching. No fame. Just eighteen hidden years, helping in a carpenter’s shop in Nazareth. And yet, He called it His Father’s business.

 

This is a powerful reminder to all who feel called to serve God outside the walls of the pulpit or mission field. Not everyone is called to full-time ministry, but everyone is called to full-time obedience.

 

Jesus shows us that the work of the Father is not confined to temples or synagogues. It is not limited to platforms or public stages. God is equally glorified in the faithfulness of a carpenter as He is in the proclamation of a prophet. Jesus was about His Father’s business when He worked with wood just as much as when He worked miracles.

 

For eighteen long years, He lived in relative obscurity. Very few people would have looked at Him and seen the Messiah. He was just another tradesman in a small town. But when He emerged from the waters of baptism, the Father declared from heaven, “This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.” (Matthew 3:17).

 

What had He done to earn such divine pleasure? He had simply been faithful. He had honored His parents. He had worked diligently. He had waited patiently. He had lived in quiet obedience, trusting the Father’s timing.

 

For those of us called to serve God in the marketplace, in business, in trades, in education, or at home—we take great encouragement from this. If Jesus spent the majority of His earthly life in “secular” work and called it His Father’s business, then so can we. Our work, done unto the Lord, is sacred.

 

It’s not the visibility of our work that gives it value. It’s the heart behind it. The unseen years in Nazareth were not wasted—they were holy. They prepared Him for the visible years of ministry that followed. And the Father was delighted in them.

 

So to every Christian in the workforce—your work matters. When done with integrity, love, and faithfulness, your job is not just a job. It is the Father’s business.