Wake Up, Look Up

In this episode of Wake Up, Look Up, Pastor Zach shares a surprising “Productivity Hack” rooted in Scripture. While culture pushes constant hustle and endless to-do lists, he reveals a biblical rhythm that leads to true fruitfulness without burnout. This conversation offers practical wisdom and spiritual insight, reminding believers that lasting productivity flows from abiding in Jesus.

Have an article you’d like Pastor Zach to discuss? Email us at wakeup@ccchapel.com!

Creators and Guests

Host
Zach Weihrauch
Follower of Jesus who has graciously given me a wife to love, children to shepherd, and a church to pastor.

What is Wake Up, Look Up?

Check out new episodes of our daily podcast, Wake Up, Look Up, with Zach Weihrauch as he interprets what's happening in our world through the lens of the gospel.

(0:08) Hello, everyone. (0:10) Thanks for listening to Wake Up, Look Up, a podcast where we connect events happening (0:15) in real time to the gospel of Jesus Christ. (0:18) I'm Zach Weihrauch.
(0:19) And in today's episode, we're talking about productivity hacks, and we're asking the question, (0:24) does God expect me to crush home life? (0:27) This is prompted by an article I read in The Atlantic this week about a growing trend on (0:32) social media, a lot on TikTok about not just crushing your 9 to 5, your job, but crushing (0:39) your 5 to 9, meaning when you get home, being just as productive in the things you do at (0:45) home. (0:46) And so what these influencers are showing is a routine that kind of mirrors workplace (0:50) structure, encouraging task completion and systematizing your life so that when you get (0:57) home, you're exercising, you're making dinner, you're prepping food for the next day, you're (1:02) laying out your clothes so that you are just as hustling, just as moving at home as you (1:09) are at work. (1:11) And what's interesting is it's driving an online kind of debate over whether or not (1:16) that's good.
(1:17) Should we keep ourselves in high gear at home, making sure we're getting the things done (1:22) there at a high level, or should home be a kind of sanctuary, a place away from work? (1:28) This is a really kind of practical and pressing question because my guess is most of us fall (1:34) in one place or the other on the continuum, either driven by discipline and productivity (1:39) or driven to rest and lethargy, falling somewhere on there. (1:44) And my guess is sometimes we all wonder, no matter which direction we tend to go, whether (1:49) or not we're right and whether or not we're missing something. (1:52) So what does the Bible say about home life productivity? (1:57) Well, the answer might surprise you.
(1:59) It's a little nuanced. (2:00) I mean, after all, let's just start here. (2:02) Ephesians 5 tells us to use time wisely because the days are evil.
(2:07) We need to make the most of them. (2:09) Now Ephesians 5 doesn't have in mind meal prepping, probably, but the point still holds. (2:15) Time is evil in the sense that if we don't think intentionally about it, we end up drifting (2:22) through life.
(2:23) We end up falling short of the things God wants us to be, whether that is productive (2:28) or whether that is being just loving and kind to those around us. (2:32) The Ephesians 5 passage pushes us towards a kind of intentionality, and yes, that intentionality (2:39) happens at work. (2:40) It also needs to happen at home.
(2:43) Meaningful parenting conversations, intimacy with a spouse, family worship, being a good (2:50) steward of the home that you have. (2:51) Those are all things that the Bible would teach us, and those are things that we're (2:55) probably not going to be good at if we don't have some kind of structure and routine, some (3:00) kind of commitment to doing them well. (3:04) However, of course, the Bible also calls us to rest.
(3:07) In Exodus 20, when God gives the Ten Commandments, one of those commandments is to take a Sabbath (3:14) day of rest. (3:15) That's because God is reminding Israel that as productive as they needed to be, their (3:21) ultimate hope was not in the productivity of their work, but in their actual relationship (3:27) with God. (3:27) It was God who was going to bless them.
(3:29) It was God who was going to keep them safe. (3:31) It was God who was going to feed them. (3:32) It was God who was going to take care of them.
(3:34) The Sabbath wasn't fundamentally about physical rest, although certainly that was helpful. (3:41) It was fundamentally about a posture of rest, which said, no matter how hard I work, my (3:46) hope is ultimately in God. (3:49) The reason why that's important is because Jesus has replaced the Sabbath, at least in (3:54) my understanding of the Bible.
(3:56) The writer of Hebrews tells us that Jesus has entered us into a permanent kind of Sabbath. (4:00) This is what Jesus means in Matthew 11, when he says, (4:06) Because if the Sabbath was fundamentally about a heartward orientation, no matter how hard (4:12) I work, no matter the task list in front of me, my hope and trust and confidence is in (4:17) God. (4:18) Jesus is saying, put that in me.
(4:21) Jesus wants you to be a great mother. (4:23) He wants you to be a great father. (4:25) He wants you to be a good steward and a good neighbor and a good friend, but he doesn't (4:28) want you to do any of those things from a place of lacking.
(4:32) He doesn't want you to do any of those things because if you fail to do those things, you (4:37) are less than. (4:38) Listen, rest is not about inactivity. (4:41) It's about confidence that God is ultimately our source of all that we need, which is why (4:49) sometimes productivity or resting, at least physically, can be an idol.
(4:55) Colossians 3, 5 warns us against putting our confidence in anything other than Jesus, whether (5:01) that is crushing our home life or whether that is relaxing. (5:05) Some of us need to acknowledge that we relax not for rest, at least not mentally or spiritually. (5:11) We relax for self-indulgence.
(5:13) Our bodies show that. (5:15) Our budgets show that. (5:16) We rest, but we're not actually rested.
(5:19) That's because we've made an idol of inactivity. (5:22) Part of finding our rest in Jesus is trusting him when he tells us that getting up off the (5:28) couch and doing something is actually going to make us feel better. (5:33) Others of us might hear the voice of Jesus calling us to sit down on the couch, not because (5:38) the things we were doing were bad, but because we no longer look to him for our status.
(5:44) We look to our kids' grades or whether the meal we cooked is Instagram worthy or whether (5:50) our lawn is the best in the neighborhood. (5:52) You see, in both those scenarios, Jesus' call is the same. (5:56) Find your identity in me.
(5:58) Find your status in me. (6:00) You might crush being a mom today. (6:02) You might be the worst at it.
(6:04) Still, you're a bud-bought, loved daughter of God because of Jesus. (6:10) That's what the Bible means in Psalm 46 when it says to be still and know that he is God. (6:15) Stillness is a heart posture.
(6:17) It happens on the couch. (6:18) It can happen in the kitchen, cooking dinner, when we say to God, I'm doing what you've (6:23) called me to do, but my hope, my confidence, my status, my identity is in you. (6:30) Once again, this is a reminder that growth spiritually is eliminating the wrong voices, (6:36) even sometimes our own, and replacing them with the voice of God who sometimes calls us (6:41) to work, who sometimes calls us to sit down, but always calls us to know that we are loved (6:48) by him.
(6:50) This episode of Wake Up Look Up was produced by Marcus Cunningham and Hallie Andrews. (6:54) Our topic researcher is Shanna Young. (6:57) This episode was directed by Rima Saleh.
(6:59) Our podcast coordinator is Hallie Andrews. (7:02) Our production manager and audio wizard is Marcus Cunningham with tech and engineering (7:07) support from Matthew Adel and Landon Hall. (7:09) I'm your host, Zach Weihrauch.
(7:11) Join us for the next episode of Wake Up, Look Up.