Advice to Young Christians on Choosing A Career

Though work is important, it is not the center of the Christian’s life. Work should support our mission of serving God.

Though work is important, it is not the center of the Christian’s life. Work should support our mission of serving God.

Choice Of Career OrientationChristians must not consider work as something separate from their spiritual life. Some say, ignorantly, that “business is business” and do not apply Bible principles of honesty to sales or management. Some use work as an excuse for not serving God. The Bible teaches the importance of diligent and honest work, but not at the expense of one’s soul. After all, “what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and loses his own soul?” (Mark 8:36)

Do not put your career above God’s work

Honest employment is important but earthly work is not the primary focus of the Christian. Men of the world are defined by their jobs and judge one another by the prestige of the job title, their authority, or salary. Christians have a job that has nothing to do with the workplace.

Ecclesiastes 12:13: “The end of the matter; all has been heard. Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole duty of man.”

The kingdom of God is our primary occupation, Matthew 6:31-33.

But Christian men are commanded to work!

1 Timothy 5:8 – “But if anyone does not provide for his relatives, and especially for members of his household, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever.”

Paul condemned men who would not work in 2 Thessalonians 3:6-12. The Christian’s career should support godly service. 2 Corinthians 8 describes Christians giving of their money to help needy Christians. We work so that we can provide for our own and help others.

Ephesians 4:28 – “Let the thief no longer steal, but rather let him labor, doing honest work with his own hands, so that he may have something to share with anyone in need.”

I had an old friend who was a successful college professor and business man. He had a great relationship with his family and was very active in the Lord’s work. He always quoted the saying, “No one, on his deathbed, said, ‘I wish I would have spent more time at the office’.”

I have known extremely successful people who were alienated from their children and often divorced. No amount of money or possessions can replace the importance of family time and influencing them to serve God.

Christians overly focused on a career may lose their soul since they neglect to feed from God’s word, pray, and do not serve in the kingdom. As Mark 8, quoted above, and Matthew 16:26 observe, it is of no profit to achieve great success and financial wealth at the cost of your soul.

As great as you may be at your job, you can be replaced (and you will be replaced). The President of our company often notes that the cemetery is full of business people who thought they couldn’t be replaced.

For the Christian, work of any kind done well is its own reward

Ecclesiastes 5 describes the vexation and emptiness of great possessions. The possessor cannot enjoy wealth for fear of losing it to bad investments, thieves, or con artists. Perhaps worse is working hard in the heat of the sun to leave your wealth to a lazy person who is given the money gets to spend it.

Enjoyable work is a key to contentment

Ecclesiastes observes that the pursuits of this world are vanity; however, the servant of God can find some contentment by serving God, enjoying his family, being satisfied with the fruit of his labor, and doing work he enjoys, Ecclesiastes 5:18-20. The work doesn’t give meaning to a vain life but when we realize that work is not our life, just a part of it, we can keep it in proper perspective and focus on living with God. Therefore, one should choose a career that he will enjoy and that will allow him to serve God. Wise people have said, “choose work that you enjoy and you will never have to work a day in your life.”

Challenges with career choices

A young person may say that he wants to pursue a particular type of career. Often the reply will be, “You can’t make money doing that” or “You may have a hard time finding a job doing that.” I’ve told young people going into unique careers that older people often respond this way when they don’t know anyone who does that type of job or do not know much about it.
In fact, I have heard older people give young people advice to go into a certain career field that was undergoing massive job layoffs! In the past they knew that this kind of job paid well and was stable but their information was outdated.

I’m not saying don’t listen to the advice but take it as advice, not the absolute truth. Investigate career paths for yourself. Learn what you have to do to succeed and pursue your dream. Perhaps your dream job doesn’t pay a lot but if you can conform your life to live within that pay then you will be successful. If you are not covetous requiring the nicest house, cars, clothes, luxurious vacations, eating out all of the time, etc. you can live the life described in Ecclesiastes 5.

There was a career path I would have loved but didn’t pursue it because I listened to the “experts” in my life telling me that it wouldn’t be a good choice. Sadly, I gave up something I would have really enjoyed instead of trying to see how I could make it work.

Whose dream is it?

Sometimes parents will drive their children fulfill the dreams they didn’t pursue. A father may have been a good athlete but didn’t play at the college or professional level and pushes his child to do this. The child may want to please his father but does not have the heart for sports that his father did and will be miserable playing. Some people, following the dreams of their parents, pursue careers as accountants, lawyers, business owners, or other high profile jobs and are miserable because they wanted another career path.

If you are in this situation, discuss your dreams with your parents, be prepared to deal with the objections mentioned in the last paragraph, and share the career path you want to pursue. With career, as with choosing someone to marry, choose one that will help you serve God, draw closer to God, and live in godly contentment.

Let your light must shine in the workplace

A mature person works when it’s not fun and he is tempted to goof off. Proverbs 12:11 and 28:19 reminds us that we are rewarded for work, not laziness. Talking about work accomplishes nothing; doing the work has profit, Proverbs 14:23.

Remember your career is built with each job you have no matter how different the work is compared to what you ultimately want to do. Flipping burgers, cleaning restrooms, sweeping floors, or stocking shelves are steps upon which you can build a successful career. Doing these jobs well helps you build up to greater responsibilities and more pay.

Christians should have a reputation for responsible and diligent work. Consider these exhortations:

  • Proverbs 21:5, 25 – Purposeful progression without irresponsible choices
  • Proverbs 15:19 – Hard work is a highway to success
  • Ecclesiastes 9:10 – Work hard at whatever you find to do

Consider especially the wisdom of Colossians 3:22-24: Don’t just work hard when the boss is watching but work as if Jesus were your boss. Besides, if you don’t work hard when the boss is not around it will still be obvious because your production, or output, will indicate your work ethic.

So work hard at whatever you do. A good attitude toward every task will lead to increasing responsibility, accountability, and rewards. There is work that does not seem challenging, or might seem beneath you, and you are tempted to not do your best as you wait to do greater work. It is doing the little work effectively that paves the way for you to be given greater work.
As a manager, I’m not going to give someone work that has great impact on the company if they consistently fail to do work that is not as critical. Consider also these thoughts:

  • Proverbs 20:4 – You build your future by work you do today
  • Luke 19:16-18 – Faithful in a little and given more authority
  • Luke 16:10 – Also, dishonest in little will be dishonest in much
  • Proverbs 22:29 – Talent developed by hard work will make a place for you

What value do you provide to an employer?

The problem with many resumes I read are they are about the person instead of what that person can do for the employer. “I want a job that will help me…” should be replaced with statements that indicate how you hope to use your skills to help the employer accomplish his goals. Your success will come when you help your organization be successful or bring value to others

Always remember, the company does not exist to provide you a job; the job exists because the company has some work that needs to be done. It’s not about you.

Aspire to financial independence

Working hard to achieve financial independence is the pleasant reward for hard work. This means developing independence from your parents: You’ll probably have to live without many luxuries but you can have your independence.

When my wife and I married we had the first meal in our apartment on an overturned cardboard box instead of a table. We have a lot of used furniture, shop at thrift stores, and do without many luxuries in order to live within our means.

When you are depending on someone else for financial support they exercise some oversight of how you spend your money. For example: You loan a friend $20 and he comes to you on Thursday and says he can’t pay you back until next week but you really could use the money. Sunday afternoon he asks if you’ve seen the latest movie that just came out this weekend because he saw it with his girlfriend and it was SO good!

What are you feeling? Happy that he saw this movie or excited to see it yourself? No, you are thinking that he could have paid you back and seen the movie when he earned his own money. You might even say, “How could you see that movie when you owe me?”

Parental example: suppose your parents pay your car insurance, mobile phone bill, or some other regular bill (not saying that it is wrong). Don’t be surprised when you start getting some grief about taking trips with your friends, going shopping, eating out a lot, or purchasing entertainment. You may hear your parents asking, “Can you afford that?”

They aren’t able to use the money because they are paying some of your bills but, like that loan, you also give them some control and the right to question how you spend your money. This is especially true if you have moved out of the home and are in your own apartment.

Work to develop full financial independence even though it will mean that you won’t have these luxuries you have come to enjoy. You can learn to enjoy playing cards, board games, or video games with friends. You can learn to cook your own food and save a LOT of money over eating out. You can lay your head down on your pillow in your second hand bed with a light meal on your stomach and be proud that you are paying all of your bills. Sometimes situations arise where you need to move in with your parents or accept some support but strive to make that period short if at all possible.

Use the money you earn to honor God

Proverbs 3:9-10 reminds us to honor God with our possessions and our income. Remember: the purpose of your career is to allow you to serve God and take care of your family not feed selfish desires or serve only your needs.

Blocking God’s Light

Reflecting God’s Light

Jesus called His followers to be “lights in the world,” Matthew 5:14, but we do not generate light; we reflect it. Jesus is the light of the world who gives light to all men, John 1:1-9. God’s word enlightens us, Ephesians 1:17-19 and gives us light, 2 Corinthians 4:4-6. The Bible describes our conversion as enlightenment, Hebrews 10:32.

Christians are being transformed into the glory of Jesus, 2 Corinthians 3:12-18. We shine as lights because we reflect the glory of Jesus as we are transformed and His life is manifested in ours, 2 Corinthians 4:11. We see this in the life of the apostles who were bold because they had been with Jesus and reflect His character, Acts 4:13.

 

We reflect the light of Jesus both from being illuminated within and being in God’s presence. The closer we get to the light, the more brightly we will reflect the light. The farther we get from Jesus, the less we reflect His glory. Our light shines to illuminate others (Matthew 5:16; 1 John 1:5-7; 1 Peter 2:11-12) Christians must walk as children of light, Ephesians 5:6-20. Christians must love as children of light, 1 John 2:8-11. Even our enemies should be hushed by lives reflecting God’s glory, Titus 2:7-8.

God’s Light in a Dark World

As the light of God’s word shines brightly into the world, it should be reflected brightly in the Christians as they are scattered in the dark world. The light of God’s word is ever shining in the world but the light of a Christian’s life must be shining as well. Some may not initially read God’s word but may listen to it being spoken by one who is living it.

We live in a world filled with lost souls who need the gospel message. We have God’s word that can illuminate their hearts and kindle a flame within just as it did with us. We have many tools that can be used to communicate the word – numerous evangelism books and suggested approaches that can help us communicate the message. The best evangelism program is a Christian who has a passion for leading lost souls to Jesus.

Blocking God’s Light to the World

The light of the physical world demonstrates how we reflect the light of God onto the world: God is the sun, the source of light. We are the moon, reflecting God’s light onto the world. Our light is not a bright, and is reflected, but it is effective for its purpose.

In a solar eclipse the moon, though infinitesimally small compared to the sun, is positioned directly between the earth and the sun blocking the sun’s rays so that midday is darkened. The sun still shines bright but its light is blocked while the moon is in the way.

Solar & Lunar Eclipses. Vector.Christians can bring attention to themselves instead of directing the glory to God. Remember in Matthew 5 Jesus said the world should see our good works and glorify God. Some want attention for worldly things: look at me because I am beautiful, rich, funny, talented, muscular, successful, etc. They want people to focus on them for what they have or their physical appearance (sensual pictures and self-promotion on social media encourage this). They want people to focus on them, not Christ in them.

Even though we are small, we can come between the world and God,and block the glory of God from being seen in those whom we could illuminate with His truth. Instead of reflecting God’s glory onto the world, we are in the way and bringing darkness instead.

In a lunar eclipse the earth blocks the sun’s rays from reaching the moon. Although the Earth is smaller than the sun it can completely darken the moon when it moves between the moon and the sun.

When we let the world get between us and God, our light diminishes and can go out. We can be so obsessed with things of this world: money, entertainment, sports, pleasure, work, etc. that we have little time to be enlightened by God’s word or shine that light for others. Jesus warned, in the Parable of the Sower (Mark 4:19) that the cares of the world, deceitfulness of riches, and other things choke out the word. Great heroes of faith. like Moses, forsook the earthly pleasures and treasures for eternal rewards, Hebrews 11:24-26. Sometimes we will not give up habits, attitudes, or thoughts that are ungodly and diminish the light that does shine from our lives. Pure lives reflect the most light.

As I noted before, we reflect the light of Jesus both from being illuminated within and being in God’s presence. The closer we get to the light, the more brightly we will reflect the light. The farther we get from Jesus, the less we reflect His glory.

  • Are you continually feeding the light within by studying God’s word and letting it transform you?
  • Are you removing things in your life, habits, attitudes, and thoughts that inhibit the light from shining?
  • Are you embarrassed about your faith? Hiding your faith under a bushel instead of giving light to others?

Let’s remove anything from our lives that inhibits the full glory of God from being reflected onto the dark world and let God illuminate us on the inside and before others. If you are not a Christian, why not let God illuminate your life and transform it into glory through Jesus?

7 Things Christians Tell God When They Avoid Daily Prayer

The Power of Daily Prayer

Prayer is a wonderful opportunity for Christians to spend time with God praising Him, thanking Him for all that He has done, and bringing our anxieties, needs, and concerns before His throne. Prayer is not a burden to God; He seeks worshipers, John 4:23. Jesus urges us to pray and taught His disciples how to pray, Matthew 6:5-13. Paul promised peace to the believer who cast all anxiety into the care of God in Philippians 4:6-7:

“…do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”

Through the scriptures and history, great men and women of faith devoted themselves to prayer and trusted its power.  It’s no wonder Paul urges Christians to “pray without ceasing” in 1 Thessalonians 5:17.Pray

Obstacles to Daily Prayer

It is perplexing that some Christians confess to not praying daily or forgetting to pray when its blessings are obvious. Some obstacles I have observed:

  1. Start the day focused on tasks and problems instead of praying before facing the demands of life
  2. Little trust that God will answer our prayers because they doubt that prayer is effective despite what the Bible teaches
  3. Can’t figure out how God will answer their prayers or are disappointed when God doesn’t answer the way they want or expect

We must remember that God will hear His children and He answers prayers through wisdom giving us what we need. Sometimes what we want is opposite of what is best for us. Sometimes we are asking for things opposed to His will, as Jesus prayed in the Garden of Gethsemane before the crucifixion. Paul, in 2 Corinthians 12,  prayed repeatedly for one outcome but rejoiced the outcome God chose for him as it made him stronger spiritually. God is not a genie to grant our every wish; He is our Father who wants what is best for us and acts out of love for our greater good even when we can’t see or appreciate it at the moment.

6 Things Christians Tell God When They Avoid Daily Prayer

Understanding the blessing and power of daily prayer, when Christians fail to act on that belief they are telling God several things:

  1.  You are not important to me or a priority in my life
  2. I do not have time for you
  3. I do not want to spend time with you
  4. I can handle things without you
  5. I do not believe that you can impact the things I am facing in my life
  6. I have nothing of which to thank or praise you
  7. I can take advantage of our relationship and use you only when I am in trouble or need

3 Minute Bible Studies – Video Bible Studies

Scott Smelser is a devout Bible student who loves to teach the simple truth of the gospel. His talent for presenting the Bible message in memorable ways is evident on his site, 3 Minute Bible Study; a series of instructive animated videos that teach Bible stories in, you guessed it, 3 minutes.

These videos would be good to share with your friends and through social media. They would also be great for showing in classes of all ages when applicable to the lesson. For example, the video on Romans would be great to show before a study of Romans (and even periodically during the study to remember the big picture).

My favorite is the video, The Whole Bible Story, below:

 

The Impossible Repentance of Hebrews 6

“For it is impossible, in the case of those who have once been enlightened, who have tasted the heavenly gift, and have shared in the Holy Spirit, and have tasted the goodness of the word of God and the powers of the age to come, 6 and then have fallen away, to restore them again to repentance, since they are crucifying once again the Son of God to their own harm and holding him up to contempt. For land that has drunk the rain that often falls on it, and produces a crop useful to those for whose sake it is cultivated, receives a blessing from God. But if it bears thorns and thistles, it is worthless and near to being cursed, and its end is to be burned. Hebrews 6:4-8(ESV)

In Hebrews 5, the writer was trying to describe the priesthood of Jesus when he interrupted himself saying that he could not explain the priesthood in more detail because they would not understand it. The topic was not so complex that they could not understand it but they had not grown in the knowledge of God and could not grasp it though, by now, they should have been spiritually mature. In chapter 6 he told them to leave the elementary principles, the ABCs, and press towards maturity in the knowledge of God’s word. Within this exhortation to maturity is a warning of remaining immature and not growing in knowledge of God’s word.

Some Christians who fail to mature may leave Christ and be unable to return to Him He says it will be “It is impossible for them to repent.” This is a frightening concept: one who is alive but cannot repent of their wickedness and turn to God. Who is this person who cannot repent?

This is not the unbeliever who never knew God nor cares for Him. This is a Christian who left the faith.

  • He was “once enlightened.” This has the idea of spiritual illumination. In John 1:9, Jesus who came to the world to give light to man. Paul, in Ephesians 1:17-18, describes conversion as the eyes of our understanding being enlightened that we may know our hope and our inheritance. Hebrews 10:32 uses “enlightenment” to described the Christian’s conversion. This person has seen through the darkness of sin by the truth of the gospel and knows the hope and glory of the child of God because he obeyed the gospel and became a child of God.
  • “have tasted the heavenly gift” The word “taste” literally means “experience.” We have a taste of the heavenly gift, our salvation, while on earth. We know peace when our sins are cleansed, love of our brethren, and our love towards God. When we read about the love of the brethren in the New Testament towards one another (sharing, selling possessions to take care of needs, daily exhortation) and the selfless, joyful, and heartfelt worship to God we have a taste of that heavenly gift. We may have been to a singing, worship service, or time with our brethren where we have had a taste of what was to come.
  • “have become partakers of the Holy Spirit” We do not understand everything about how the Father, Son, and Spirit dwell within us but must leave that to God. Romans 8:9-11 speaks of the relationship with have with God through the Holy Spirit. We have become partakers of God in that we have put off wickedness and put on holiness.
  • “tasted the word of God” The word “tasted” is the same as used above. Peter tells us to desire the pure milk of the word if we have tasted the Lord’s graciousness, 1 Peter 2:2-3. We have know from God’s words of love and warning what we needed to do to become children of God and submitted to it.
  • “[tasted] the powers of the age to come” A knowledge of the power of God and of His ultimate triumph over Satan and the world of sin and the destruction of the world. This knowledge urges us to be faithful, 2 Peter 3:11.

When this person falls away it is impossible to renew him to repentance. The word “impossible” doesn’t always mean “cannot” but is sometimes used to describe something that is not acceptable or is extremely unlikely. In this case it is impossible for the Christian who forsook Jesus to return to Him because there is nothing that we can tell him or use to appeal to him that he doesn’t already know. He willingly turned his back on all that is good and holy in order to be in this condition. He has crucified the Son of God again and put Him to open shame. We do not physically crucify Jesus, but our rejection of Him is equal to that Jerusalem mob, Hebrews 10:29. His departure from the faith is a cause for people to mock Christ for Jesus must not have meant enough to the person to keep Him.

How can we reach this desperate condition?

We can become callused to sin. Israel was often condemned for their hard hearts and rebellion against God, Hebrews 3:7-13. The Israelites who forsook God could not enter the Promised Land and the Christian who forsakes God cannot enter His eternal kingdom, Hebrews 10:26-39. To become hardened to sin is to become callused. When our skin calluses, it is no longer tender and easily pricked. Guitar player’s fingers become callused by the strings and lose sensitivity. Hard labor with bare hands can cause them to become callused. When our heart becomes A young man walks into the desolate desertcallused, it is no longer easily pricked. When we continue to sin we can eventually numb our conscience and make it less resistant to the pricking message of the truth.It becomes easier to add other sins when we become hardened.

We can think that judgment is far away. Jesus told a parable of a servant who behaved wickedly but was surprised by a judgment that came quickly, Matthew 24:45-51. Peter wrote of people who would scoff mistaking God’s longsuffering for postponed judgment, 2 Peter 3:1-9. Instead, Peter wrote that the Christian must always be ready for judgment, 2 Peter 3:10-13. How often do we really think that judgment could be imminent?

Listen to false promises and false teaching. Paul warned Timothy of false teachers whose conscience was seared and numb like one whose skin has been seared by a hot iron and can feel nothing, 1 Timothy 4:1-3.

Some believe God would not condemn a person who claimed to be a Christian at one time. They think that once they were saved they would always be saved even if they didn’t follow Jesus later in life. Hebrews 10:26-39 plainly teaches that God has no pleasure in those who draw back from Him to return to sin. Paul warned the Thessalonian Christians, in 2 Thessalonians 1:4-10, to remain worthy of the calling and escape God’s wrath. Peter warns, in 2 Peter 2:18-22, that it is  better not to have known Jesus than to turn away from being a follower. If one is “once saved always saved” then this statement would be meaningless.

How Can We Remain Faithful?

  • Growing in the knowledge of God and obedience
    • Hebrews 6:7-8 – Being useful in God’s service and not ensnared with worldly things.
    • Hebrews 6:9-12 – Diligent service, not becoming sluggish.
  • Remaining tenderhearted, not resisting the loving rebuke of our brethren.

Be serious about your walk with God and diligent to grow in the knowledge of God and His word and draw closer to Him. Failing to do this, you could drift so far from God that it would be impossible for others to draw you back.