Who will you serve in your work? We explore why Bob Dylan’s lyric matters, and look at who we serve in the workplace. Let’s find out!
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The legendary Bob Dylan once sang, “You’re gonna to have to serve somebody.”
Well, that is true in the workplace.
Someone is going to drive you in your work.
Someone is going to decide, “You’ve put in a good day—that’s enough.”
Someone is going to decide, “You can do a better job than that.”
Someone is going to decide, “You spent a lot of hours on that project, but now you need to stop and get some rest.”
Come to think of it:
Someone is going to decide where you work.
Someone is going to decide how many hours you work.
The question is, who decides? Or better put, who are you serving?
At this point, some of you may be thinking, “Duh-it’s my boss.”
Or “It’s my board.”
For some, the answer has to do with your religious faith: you are serving your God.
And some of you, if you were gut-level honest, would say, “I serve myself. I decide whether I put in a full day, or if I offer a little less than that for which I am being paid, or if I do my job and then some.” But you are going to serve somebody.
I tell Christians that one of the best things they can do to help their workweek is to take some time in their off hours and decide, “Who am I going to Serve?”
Bob Dylan’s song lyrics continue, “You’re gonna have to serve somebody … it may be the devil or it may be the Lord But you’re gonna have to serve somebody.” I wonder if he lifted that from Joshua 24:15, “…then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve…” Whether he did or not, it is good advice.
And I recommend: serve the Lord in your work.