Two masons were working hard building a wall. A stranger stopped and asked, “What are you doing?” 

One of the men glared at him with a scowl and snarled, “I’m laying bricks! What do you think?”

The other man smiled at him with a gleam in his eyes and said, “I’m building a cathedral!”

The difference between the two men wasn’t what they were doing, but how they perceived what they were doing. One man had vision, while the other didn’t. The same thing applies us. It’s the difference between going through the motions and using imagination in our work. It’s the difference between the ordinary and the extraordinary.

Biblically, it’s the difference between Simon and Peter. In John chapter one, Andrew introduced his brother Simon to Jesus. We’re told (John 1.42), “Jesus looked at him and said, ‘You are Simon the son of John; you shall be called Cephas’ (which is translated Peter).” The name Peter was the Greek word petros, which meant a rock. In the gospels, Peter is anything but a rock: he’s rash, brash, boastful, cocky, and foolish, and at the end of the gospels, he publicly denies Jesus three times. But John also records that Jesus restored him in the end (John 21). So, when we get to the book of Acts, Peter (the Rock) becomes a source of strength and encouragement to his fellow apostles and fellow Christians in the early days of the church. Jesus had vision – he saw Simon for what he could become.

This kind of vision transforms everything we do. Typing an email becomes an act of communication. Staring at a spreadsheet becomes strategic business planning. Pulling weeds becomes landscaping. Laying tile becomes interior design. 

It also transforms our lives as Christians. Planning your monthly budget becomes stewardship. Sunday church attendance becomes worship. Studying your Bible becomes a spiritual feast. Socializing with other Christians becomes fellowship. Visiting the sick becomes serving the body of Christ.

Whatever your job, and however mundane you may think it is, apply imagination, perspective, and vision, and you’ll completely transform your attitude about your work.

Are you laying bricks or building cathedrals? The choice is yours.