2 And found a certain Jew named Aquila, born
in Pontus, lately come from Italy, with his wife Priscilla; (because that Claudius
had commanded all Jews to depart from Rome:) and came unto them. 3 And because he
was of the same craft, he abode with them, and wrought: for by their occupation
they were tentmakers. ~ Acts 18:2-3 (King James Version)
I have always taught that when we are
looking for a vocation that we should decide what excites, what is it that
makes us want to jump out of bed in the morning and get to go do and if you can
do that and feed yourself then all the better. I believe that each of us have a
ministry that we were created to be a part of, if your blessed and are a part
of a ministry that also meets your needs financially then you are blessed
twofold. If you do not have a ministry that is also your occupation then your
occupation should be such that it supports your ministry. Now mind you that
“ministry” encompasses a wide gamut of services, everything from raising a
family to running a not-for-profit that serves God’s people and may change from
time to time.
Regardless of what we do for our
occupation, God calls us to use our business as an excuse to be a heavenly illustration
of a faithful apostle of Jesus Christ. Our place of employment is the perfect secular
forum where we have to opportunity to serve God’s people and demonstrate veracity
in our worldly dealings as well as in a Christian environment. We need to be
the example that the divine and earthly are partners in the marketplace, as it
were. Our Christian duty is that our actions must speak louder than words;
people will hear our actions long before any sermon or lecture. Our work ethics
and our performance should always eclipse what the boss or company requires, others
will start to question why and will be drawn to you.
17 These things I command you, that ye love
one another. 18 If the world hate you, ye know that it hated me before it hated
you. 19 If ye were of the world, the world would love his own: but because ye are
not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth
you. ~ John 15:17-19 (KJV)
Know that there will be those who become
jealous of you because of your work ethic, your honesty and your desire to be
better. There will be those try to turn others against you, this is the way of
Christ.
When a business claims Christ as the head,
it has positioned itself to be in God’s grace. Do the values of our company imitate
that of Christ? Does your company value integrity, humility, and good work ethics
as the character they value in their employees? Do the other employees look for
opportunities to jump in and help others and look for better ways to perform their duties, as the positive with fellow workers and supervisors always ready
to offer a kind work or friendly reinforcement?
If our work ethics imitate the person of
Christ people will be attracted to us and as a group, we will attract others
that have to same values and work ethic, setting our business up for success
and in this process we will be setting into place an environment that not only
grows the business but grows His Kingdom. Regardless to what society and
business experts say, good successful people are motivated by a good outlined
and defined mission much more than by money.
7 When a man's ways please the LORD, he maketh
even his enemies to be at peace with him. 8 Better is a little with righteousness
than great revenues without right. 9 A man's heart deviseth his way: but the LORD
directeth his steps. ~ Proverbs 16:7-9 (KJV).
When I served in the military I was blessed to
have many wise leaders but one wise and kind Sergeant Major once told me, “plan
your life but do not plan the outcome.” We may think we are in control and
plan, plan, plan but when we plan the outcome we are either surprised or
disappointed every time. When you along your thoughts and actions with that of
El Shaddai, God Almighty, He will direct our steps, bless us and make us
prosper! Amen. <><
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