1 Corinthians – Part 3
There’s a story about a great fisherman who always came home with a load of fish. One day a stranger asked if he could accompany him the next time he went out. “Sure,” the fisherman said. The next morning the 2 made their way to a remote cave. The stranger noticed that the fisherman didn’t have any poles or other equipment, just a rusty tackle box and a scoop net. After the fisherman shut off the motor he opened the tackle box and pulled out a stick of dynamite. He struck a match, lit it, and then tossed it into the water. After a deafening explosion, he grabbed his net and began scooping up fish. With a hard look, the stranger reached into his pocket and pulled out a badge with the words Game Warden. “You’re under arrest,” he said. His words didn’t faze the fisherman. He simply reached into the tackle box again, lit another stick of dynamite and held it while the fuse burned down. Then he handed it to the game warden and said, “So, are you just going to sit there, or are you going to fish?” The moral of this story is – successful people don’t need a fuse lit under them. Their motivation comes from their God-given purpose within. They live for a cause greater than themselves.
If we wait for others to motivate us, what happens when “others” don’t show up? We need a better plan than that. And the Bible gives us that plan: “Make a careful exploration of who you are and the work you have been given, and then sink yourself into that.”
– I remember a sign hanging in a grocery store window in Springfield Mo. That read ” WANTED, CLERK TO WORK 8 HOURS A DAY TO REPLACE THE ONE WHO DIDN’T.”
– A sign at a highway construction sight : “MEN WORKING, and the night before someone had painted – “WE HOPE SO.”
For many the best part of their VOCATION is their VACATION! – But God has gifted you for the work you do!
• In your lifetime you’re going to spend about 150,000 hours at work
• The average person spends from 40%-70% of his waking hours in job-related activities.
“What do we gain by all of our hard work?” Ecclesiastes 3:9 (NLT)
“God wants all people to eat and drink and be happy in their work, which are gifts from God.” Eccl 3:13
2. My work matters to God because MY WORK DEVELOPS ME.
“God is far more interested in what you are than what you do.” – And WHAT YOU DO has a lot to do in SHAPING WHO YOU ARE.
“While you’re working on your job, God is working on you. What God is doing in you is more important than what you’re doing.”
“The most important thing you bring home from work every day is not your paycheck. It’s you.”
Let me ask us a question here today. – Are you satisfied with what you’re becoming?
Understand this: a lot of the things we think we can handle, finish up consuming us – things like appetites, overwork, stress, greed, or simply the aimlessness of our lives; there’s a real killer!
God has a wonderful plan for you. Spend time with Him today and let Him tell you about it.
“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. 12 Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. 13 You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. 14 I will be found by you,” Jeremiah 29:11-14
“We must work, doing something useful with our own hands, so that we may have something to share with those in need.” Ephesians 4:28 GN)
“Take care of your own business, and do your own work: if you do, then people who are not believers will respect you.” 1 Thess 4:11-12 (NCV)
“Whatever you do or say, let it be as a representative of the Lord Jesus.” Colossians 3:17 (NLT)
“As the Spirit of the Lord works within us, we become more and more like him and reflect his glory even more” (2 Corinthians 3:18b NLT).
stevelummer.com 