Mother Teresa of Calcutta (now canonized) said that God calls us to faithfulness, not success. She didn't believe she was a success, I gather! We are to be faithful and leave the results to God! There are many ways to measure it (i.e., it has many dimensions and descriptions), but God promises us good success in doing the Lord's work if we are faithful. They say that greed drives Wall Street, and we can be ambitious for all the wrong reasons like just trying to get ahead or keep up with the Joneses like it says in Jer. 45:5--blind ambition for power, fame, or fortune. When we are zealous for the Lord, we will surely be blessed in all we do.
There is no such thing as a clerical calling versus a secular calling (there is neither Greek nor barbarian, slave nor free, nor any caste system in the brotherhood of saints--we are all one in Christ of the same body). Though to be in the ministry is a calling, all Christians are called to a vocation (cf. John 3:27, (NLT). When work is done as "unto the Lord" (cf. Col. 3:23; 1 Cor. 10:31), even if it is mundane or menial, we are still vessels of honor being used by God. As Paul said, "I will not venture to speak of anything except what Christ has accomplished through me..." (Rom. 15:18, ESV). Similarly, Isaiah 26:12 (NASB) says this: "... Since You have also performed for us all our works."
When we realize this we get the right attitude and have spunk, and are not lackadaisical in the Lord's work, for Jeremiah pronounced a curse on all who do the Lord's work with slackness (cf. Jer. 48:10). Jesus stooped to wash the disciples' feet and this precedent of a servile act foot-washing is to be our attitude, too--nothing should be beneath us, i.e., below our dignity. There is no stigma to working, even though the Greeks and Romans thought manual work was a curse and relegated it to some 60 million slaves living in the known world of antiquity. But we choose our attitude: Amaziah "did what was right in the eyes of the Lord, yet not with a whole heart" (cf. 2 Chr. 25:2, ESV).
Martin Luther brought dignity to work by preaching that all work can be done to the glory of God and this became the Protestant work ethic. Brother Lawrence, a seventeenth-century monk who wrote The Practice of the Presence of God, showed how we can live all day long in fulfillment of pleasing God in all we do and abiding in Him. It is important to find your calling in life, or what you have been gifted to do; for example, Eric Liddel, who was an Olympic star portrayed in the movie Chariots of Fire, said that God made him for a purpose and made him fast, and when he runs he "feels the pleasure of God."
We all have turf or domain that God has given uniquely to us and we will be held accountable for our talents, abilities, opportunities, resources, and gifts--we are just stewards of everything, including the time God has given us. A person is never so rich that he can live a life of non-productivity and of undisciplined or unbridled leisure and luxury. Amos denounced the life of ease and complacency in Zion and God, only rewards discipline and virtue, not living it up with reckless abandon and without respect. God is not all work and no play and there will be leisure or downtime in heaven where "they shall sit each man under his vine and under his fig tree" and be prosperous in the kingdom of heaven according to Micah 4:4 (ESV; cf. Zech. 3:10).
Haggai was a prophet who, as a motivation expert, got results in rebuilding the temple. The people needed to get their priorities right for God's blessing. Hag. 2:4 (NASB) says, "... [And] work; for I am with you." Yes, we are held to a higher standard and God wants our obedience, not our achievements. St. Theresa said she wanted to build a convent and when asked what her resources were, she said only 12 pence. They told her that even St. Theresa couldn't build a convent with only 12 pence. She replied that St. Theresa and God could! Little is much when God is in it--what matters is God's blessing and favor on our endeavors.
We need to put all our work into a proper perspective and see it as "unto the Lord." Three men cutting stones were asked what they were doing: One was building a wall; one was earning a living, and one was building a cathedral. Which one had a divine viewpoint and was properly motivated to do his best? Nehemiah said that he couldn't come down because he was "doing a great work." And he was glad that the people "had a mind to work." (Cf. Neh. 6:3; 4:6, ESV). Nevertheless, he who is faithful in little shall be faithful in much, according to our Lord.
Being busy is not necessarily a virtue, because some are too busy for God. When you're in the will of God, you're never to busy and there are no interruptions, only opportunities. We want to redeem the time and make use of what God has granted us to His glory, and we must never develop the bad habits that lead to slothfulness or laziness, one of the "seven deadly sins" of Rome. Malingering or avoiding duty is also laziness. Solomon says, "Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with all your might (Eccl. 9:10). And so we should always "seize the day [carpe diem]," make the most of our days, and should be" redeeming the time," because Sir Walter Scott was right: "Time and tide wait for no man." Time is fleeting and we will give account--we either waste our time, spend it, or invest it in kingdom work.
Soli Deo Gloria!
There is no such thing as a clerical calling versus a secular calling (there is neither Greek nor barbarian, slave nor free, nor any caste system in the brotherhood of saints--we are all one in Christ of the same body). Though to be in the ministry is a calling, all Christians are called to a vocation (cf. John 3:27, (NLT). When work is done as "unto the Lord" (cf. Col. 3:23; 1 Cor. 10:31), even if it is mundane or menial, we are still vessels of honor being used by God. As Paul said, "I will not venture to speak of anything except what Christ has accomplished through me..." (Rom. 15:18, ESV). Similarly, Isaiah 26:12 (NASB) says this: "... Since You have also performed for us all our works."
When we realize this we get the right attitude and have spunk, and are not lackadaisical in the Lord's work, for Jeremiah pronounced a curse on all who do the Lord's work with slackness (cf. Jer. 48:10). Jesus stooped to wash the disciples' feet and this precedent of a servile act foot-washing is to be our attitude, too--nothing should be beneath us, i.e., below our dignity. There is no stigma to working, even though the Greeks and Romans thought manual work was a curse and relegated it to some 60 million slaves living in the known world of antiquity. But we choose our attitude: Amaziah "did what was right in the eyes of the Lord, yet not with a whole heart" (cf. 2 Chr. 25:2, ESV).
Martin Luther brought dignity to work by preaching that all work can be done to the glory of God and this became the Protestant work ethic. Brother Lawrence, a seventeenth-century monk who wrote The Practice of the Presence of God, showed how we can live all day long in fulfillment of pleasing God in all we do and abiding in Him. It is important to find your calling in life, or what you have been gifted to do; for example, Eric Liddel, who was an Olympic star portrayed in the movie Chariots of Fire, said that God made him for a purpose and made him fast, and when he runs he "feels the pleasure of God."
We all have turf or domain that God has given uniquely to us and we will be held accountable for our talents, abilities, opportunities, resources, and gifts--we are just stewards of everything, including the time God has given us. A person is never so rich that he can live a life of non-productivity and of undisciplined or unbridled leisure and luxury. Amos denounced the life of ease and complacency in Zion and God, only rewards discipline and virtue, not living it up with reckless abandon and without respect. God is not all work and no play and there will be leisure or downtime in heaven where "they shall sit each man under his vine and under his fig tree" and be prosperous in the kingdom of heaven according to Micah 4:4 (ESV; cf. Zech. 3:10).
Haggai was a prophet who, as a motivation expert, got results in rebuilding the temple. The people needed to get their priorities right for God's blessing. Hag. 2:4 (NASB) says, "... [And] work; for I am with you." Yes, we are held to a higher standard and God wants our obedience, not our achievements. St. Theresa said she wanted to build a convent and when asked what her resources were, she said only 12 pence. They told her that even St. Theresa couldn't build a convent with only 12 pence. She replied that St. Theresa and God could! Little is much when God is in it--what matters is God's blessing and favor on our endeavors.
We need to put all our work into a proper perspective and see it as "unto the Lord." Three men cutting stones were asked what they were doing: One was building a wall; one was earning a living, and one was building a cathedral. Which one had a divine viewpoint and was properly motivated to do his best? Nehemiah said that he couldn't come down because he was "doing a great work." And he was glad that the people "had a mind to work." (Cf. Neh. 6:3; 4:6, ESV). Nevertheless, he who is faithful in little shall be faithful in much, according to our Lord.
Being busy is not necessarily a virtue, because some are too busy for God. When you're in the will of God, you're never to busy and there are no interruptions, only opportunities. We want to redeem the time and make use of what God has granted us to His glory, and we must never develop the bad habits that lead to slothfulness or laziness, one of the "seven deadly sins" of Rome. Malingering or avoiding duty is also laziness. Solomon says, "Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with all your might (Eccl. 9:10). And so we should always "seize the day [carpe diem]," make the most of our days, and should be" redeeming the time," because Sir Walter Scott was right: "Time and tide wait for no man." Time is fleeting and we will give account--we either waste our time, spend it, or invest it in kingdom work.
Soli Deo Gloria!
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