The Call to Service of the King
The Call to Service of the King
Although it may be that people in the U.S. seem to be going to church less and less these days, most still have to go to work. The harvest is in the workplace. You and I are placed there by God to be his laborers and his fishermen. You don't have to wait to be sent. You have already been sent.
The world is interested very much in getting, both on the job and everywhere else. I am convinced that he is asking us, “in all (our) getting, to get understanding.” (Proverbs 4:7)
One thing he wants us to understand is that we represent our Lord by our behavior and by our words. He wants us to be “ready in season and out of season (2 Timothy 4:2) whether or not we get an opportunity to preach the word at work. We must “always be ready to give a defense to everyone who asks you a reason for the hope that is in you, with meekness and fear.” (1 Peter 3:15)
You are a city on a hill
Jesus said, “Again, the kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and hid; and for joy over it he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field.” (Matthew 13:44) We have a vast mission field in the world of work.
Jesus said, “Again, the kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and hid; and for joy over it he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field.” (Matthew 13:44) We have a vast mission field in the world of work.
What a wonderful opportunity God has given us to work for him on our jobs. In one way we are “undercover agents,” watching and waiting for the opportunity to be used by God to speak his word. In another way we are constantly his witnesses even if we never get the opportunity to openly talk about Jesus.
No matter where we are, we are called to live a transformed life in the midst of a crazy world seeming to go crazier by the minute. As the world seems to be spinning out of control, our lives, if controlled by the Holy Spirit, will be steady and peaceful, and as we grow in Christ we are becoming more and more the light and salt he called us to become.
We have what the world is looking for
We have what the world is looking for. We have a “treasure hidden in a field,” and as we grow in our relationship with Christ, our lives in the workplace will shine more and more and we will become more and more useful to the Master. If we are living every day to one day hear the Lord say, “Well done, good and faithful servant,” (Matthew 25:21) then we will be fulfilled in whatever position he has placed us.
We have what the world is looking for. We have a “treasure hidden in a field,” and as we grow in our relationship with Christ, our lives in the workplace will shine more and more and we will become more and more useful to the Master. If we are living every day to one day hear the Lord say, “Well done, good and faithful servant,” (Matthew 25:21) then we will be fulfilled in whatever position he has placed us.
“We have this treasure in earthen vessels,” Paul wrote (2 Corinthians 4:7). We have what the world is looking for but they don't know where to go to get it. God wants to use us to advance his kingdom wherever he has placed us. Wherever God places us we are there as his ambassadors, his representatives (2 Corinthians 5:20). We are not our own. We were bought with a price.
Everything has its time
I have a new career as a literacy tutor in an elementary school, something I wish I had discovered years ago, but there are seasons in our work life, and this just happens to be the season God chose to give me this. For years people had said to me that I should try to have a job that enabled me to spend as much time as possible seeking the Lord and allowing him to work to make me useful in the kingdom of God.
I have a new career as a literacy tutor in an elementary school, something I wish I had discovered years ago, but there are seasons in our work life, and this just happens to be the season God chose to give me this. For years people had said to me that I should try to have a job that enabled me to spend as much time as possible seeking the Lord and allowing him to work to make me useful in the kingdom of God.
As much as possible I have tried to base my life on my walk with the Lord, believing that he had called me to do something special. But it always seemed like the job or graduate school took so much out of me and I was always complaining that I couldn't do the things I wanted to do with the Lord because of all these responsibilities. But our God is gracious and he is faithful, and trustworthy, and he knows what he's doing even when we don't.
I just want to encourage you in the Lord. Take time to sit at Jesus' feet and hear his word (Luke 10:39). “Come to me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest,” Jesus said. “Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.” (Matthew 11:28)
He Will Make You to Become Fishers of Men
Matthew 4:19
Mark 1:17
Matthew 4:19
Mark 1:17
The Harvest is Plentiful, the Laborers are Few
Matthew 9:37, 38
Mark 10:2
Matthew 9:37, 38
Mark 10:2
You are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden.
Matthew 5:14
Matthew 5:14
To everything there is a season, a time for every purpose under heaven:
Ecclesiastes 3:1
Ecclesiastes 3:1
This article will appear in the Global Fellowship of Christian Job Seekers newsletter for the month of November, 2015
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