Every Good Endeavor - When Your Work Becomes Your Worship

Hi there, friend—

Do you have a job?

Or do you have a vocation?

That’s the question at the heart of Every Good Endeavor by Timothy Keller — a book that radically reshaped how I think about work, meaning, and legacy.

In family businesses, it’s easy to get pulled into the grind: the urgent, the operational, the never-ending list of tasks. But this book reminded me that work, at its best, isn’t just execution.

It’s devotion.

Keller offers a lens to see our daily efforts not as chores, but as calling. And he does it without sentimentality. This book is grounded in truth, challenge, and a quiet kind of conviction.

Here are three takeaways that have stayed with me:

1. All Work Is Honorable

The dignity of work is found in the posture, not the title.

From CEO to site supervisor, from finance to field ops, it’s all part of the mission when done with integrity.

2. Work as Service

Done well, our work becomes love made visible.

And that includes everyone we touch: teammates, customers, vendors, communities.

It’s a way of showing up in the world. Never “just a job.”

3. Meaning is Fuel

Meaning isn’t soft.

It’s fuel.

The companies (and leaders) that last are the ones who stay rooted in why they do what they do.

“If the work we do is rooted in love, it’s not just productivity — it’s a prayer.”

If you’ve ever felt the tension between ambition and purpose …

If you’ve ever wondered whether your work really matters …

This book helped me answer that.

I think it might help you too.

Onward,
Matt