“’…For I know the plans I have for you,’ says the Lord. ‘They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope. In those days when you pray, I will listen. If you look for Me wholeheartedly, you will find Me.’” (Jeremiah 29:11-13 NLT)
These verses have been used in a lot of ways and sought to be made to say a lot of things they were never meant to convey, but they are still very true for you and me. The original context involved the nation of Israel being exiled to the land of Babylon, but these words of hope from the Lord encouraged them to settle in and make the best of it.
Jeremiah told them their “prophets and fortune-tellers” were telling them lies that God was going to move on their behalf and immediately deliver them from the exiled land, but that wasn’t God’s plan. He told them they would be there for seventy years. In the earlier verses God told them to “build homes, and plan to stay. Plant gardens, and eat the food they produce.” What’s our takeaway?
The “gurus” of modern life are the idols of our culture. The multi-billionaires who seem to have it all are the envy of every person who believes if I just “do what they did” I’ll have all my heart can imagine and more. And the truth is, maybe they can – but at what cost.
Our modern culture is penny rich and dollar poor. We make a lot of money, but few know its value. We tend to believe that “he who has the most toys wins,” but that’s a lie. You may have a lot of things, but if your soul is empty, you have nothing. Jesus said in Mark 8:36: “And what do you benefit if you gain the whole world but lose your own soul? Is anything worth more than your soul?” With the clear implication: Absolutely not!
Remember in Matthew 4 when Jesus was being tempted, Satan took Him to “a very high mountain and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory.” Did you catch that? “and their glory.” We don’t just want the riches, we want the “glory,” the benefits of our riches – prestige, honor, recognition, fame with all its trimmings. That’s what Satan offered Jesus and what he’s still offering today.
You can have that, all of it, all you have to do is the same thing Satan was demanding of Jesus – to worship him. Gratefully, it was a price King Jesus wasn’t willing to pay and I’m begging you, please don’t pay the price of your soul to serve Satan. You may become a “star,” but you’ll lose your soul. So, what’s the big deal with that?
The moment we close our eyes in death everything will become crystal clear. The things of the world, which are now topsy-turvey, will be righted and we’ll finally see as Jesus has always seen. Money and material possessions were never meant to be our “lord,” but our servant. We sell our soul for the things of the world only to find in the end that we let Satan rob us of everything that really was intended to give our life meaning, value, and purpose.
Work is a gift through which we can exalt and honor the Lord and forward His eternal purposes, not simply a means of earning money so we can forward our own purposes. Work is to be an avenue of ministry through which we can give visibility to the presence of Christ and honor Him through our character, honesty, integrity, kindness, and the display of the fruit of the Spirit.
We don’t work, then do ministry for Christ, in the ideal setting work IS our ministry for Christ. We allow the Lord to work in and through us to enable us to be the best “worker” any company would ever have. We show the value of Jesus through exhibiting a work ethic that makes us invaluable to our employer. Earnings become a by-product of our efforts to make our Savior known.
This can be tricky, so let’s look at it more closely in tomorrow’s post.
Food for thought.
Blessings, Ed 😊
Walking With Jesus 