When the Ordinary Becomes Sacred
Have you ever caught yourself thinking that most of your life feels too small to matter to God? The alarm goes off, the coffee brews, the emails pile up, the kids need lunchboxes packed, the tools come out — another ordinary day in a string of ordinary days. We scroll past everyone else’s highlight reels and wonder if God notices ours at all.
Nehemiah 3 is basically an ancient work log — names we can’t pronounce, gates we’ve never seen, and people doing sweaty, dusty, back-breaking labour. Yet the Holy Spirit gave an entire chapter to it. Why? Because every stone they lifted, every beam they set, every gate they hung was in service to the Lord, and He called it holy.
The high priest Eliashib started the project with dirt under his fingernails. Perfume-makers and goldsmiths left their shops to swing picks and bang hammers. Families repaired the wall right in front of their own homes. Nothing glamorous — just calloused hands and ordinary obedience. But because it was done for God’s glory and the protection of His people, heaven recorded it and a whole chapter in the Bible is the result.
Jesus lived this truth for years. Before a single miracle, He spent the better part of His life as a ‘tekton’ — a builder — measuring timber, cutting joints, getting sawdust in His hair. Every perfectly planed board was sacred service to the Father.
Colossians 3:23 declares this plain truth for our lives too: “Whatever you do, do it heartily, as to the Lord and not to men.” The school run, the spreadsheet, the night shift, the nappy change, the hammer swing — when it’s done for Jesus, the ordinary is able to be used by God to accomplish His extraordinary.
So tomorrow morning, before your feet hit the floor, try praying one simple sentence: “Lord, this day is for You.” Then watch what He does with your day. The mundane doesn’t stay mundane very long in hands that belong to an extraordinary God.