Distracted Working

Another excerpt from Marketplace Christianity, talking about doing our work as unto the Lord:

Wholehearted means our heart is not divided between the job at hand and our desire to do some other ministry work. Rather, the job at hand is our ministry work. Because it is really the Lord we are serving in our tasks, then it is impossible for us to be less than completely wholehearted. In sharp contrast to this biblical mandate, modern Christians are generally the worst workers on the planet, precisely because they are not wholehearted, but divided-hearted. Their hearts are divided between work and ministry. They give little at work because their hearts are somewhere else. Early in my career, I went to work as late as I could, I left as early as I could, and gave as little as I could, but got as much money as I could.

This really convicted me. Sometimes I'm exactly that divided-hearted Christian that he is talking about. Sometimes I've got other things going on in my life that are more meaningful to me than my work, so I spend my time thinking about those things, and put in the minimum amount of time at work so I can rush off and do something more worthwhile.

But this isn't what God wants from me:

Slaves, obey your earthly masters with respect and fear, and with sincerity of heart, just as you would obey Christ. Obey them not only to win their favor when their eye is on you, but like slaves of Christ, doing the will of God from your heart. Serve wholeheartedly, as if you were serving the Lord, not men, because you know that the Lord will reward everyone for whatever good he does, whether he is slave or free. Ephesians 6:5-8

If I'm doing my work as if I were serving the Lord, I should be giving it everything I've got!

Far-sightedness

One of the dangers of focusing on our dreams is that we can miss the everyday opportunities that God has put in front of us. I've been thinking about how many people with needs God has put into my life, right now. Sometimes I overlook that and want God to give me something big, something exciting to do. But He's already given me so many people around me, each with their own need for encouragement, advice, comfort, or correction.

It's a stewardship issue, really. Will we be faithful with the small things that He's made us responsible for today? We have to be faithful with the little we have before He can trust us with more.

Pursuit

I just finished watching the movie The Pursuit of Happyness. In it, Will Smith's character spends the whole movie with circumstances around him going from bad to worse. But through it all, he has a dream and keeps pursuing it no matter what life throws at him. (We're talking major things here: his wife leaving him, getting evicted, arrested, etc.)

I was reading over my last post, and the word "pursue" kept jumping out at me. To pursue doesn't mean that we've arrived at our intended destination. It just means that we haven't given up on getting there; we're actively trying to find our way to that destination. It doesn't even mean that we appear to be closer each day. But it does mean that we've tried, and through trying we accomplish more than we can realize at the time.

Pursuing Your Passion

I'm reading a book called Marketplace Christianity, by Robert Fraser, and I thought this portion was interesting:

When Christians ask my advice about starting a business, they often say they want to do it part time, so they can spend most of their time doing other stuff, which is what they really want to do. They see business as a vehicle to fund their true desire....

... as for people who see business as a way to fund a different passion, I say, don't waste your life on something that is not your passion. Passion is God's voice in your heart, speaking to you about your calling. Psalm 37:4 says if we "delight ourselves in the Lord" that He will "give us the desires of our heart." He will literally fill our hearts with His desires for us. It is best to pursue our true passion and look for God's provision in it. To pursue our passion is to serve God, who is the author of our passion. To do otherwise is to serve money.

He's specifically talking to entrepreneurs about their motivation for starting a business, but I think it applies to all of us. It's easy to let our worry about money keep us from pursuing the area of passion that God has put inside our hearts. God is faithful - if He's given us a passion and called us to do something, can't He provide for our needs so that we can totally pursue that calling?

Our time on this earth is so short - why should we waste it on something we're not passionate about?