“the God who has been my shepherd all my life long to this day.”

Genesis 48:15

How does God reveal himself to you in your job?

At the end of Jacob’s life here in Genesis 48, he is blessing the sons of his long-lost son Joseph. He begins his blessing by calling upon the God who blessed his own life by saying, this is the “God who has been my shepherd all my life long to this day.”

This is a fascination passage because prior to this passage, I don’t think there’s yet a revelation of God being a “shepherd” in Genesis. How or why then does Abraham call God his shepherd?

I think he called God his shepherd because he saw aspects of God through his own vocation as being a shepherd.

Let me explain–a chapter before, it is acknowledged to Pharaoh that Jacob’s entire family, as they move to Egypt, that Jacob’s entire family are shepherds. 47:4 writes, “They said to Pharaoh, ‘Your servants are shepherds as our fathers were.‘”

Throughout Jacob’s crazy journey, from his early bouts with his brother Esau, to his marriage to Rebekah and Leah, to having twelve children contentiously, to having his favorite son Joseph being lost, to sojourning to the foreign land of Egypt, Jacob reflected on his life and through his vocation as a shepherd, saw that God was his own good shepherd. In other words, through his own vocation, he saw positive qualities of God based on that vocation.

The question is presented again for us–How does God reveal himself to you in your job?

If you are a school teacher, do you recognize that God is your teacher?

Or if you are a lawyer, that God is your Defender? If you are doctor, that God is your Healer? If you are in business, that God is your good Manager? If you are in ministry, that God is your Pastor?

I find it so cool that God can reveal qualities of himself through our vocation. I was reflecting on this in my oft part-time work as a web developer. I was thinking how God rewrites my spiritual code and develops me as a person.

I hope that you see more of God through your very profession, and may that give you comfort for the years to come.