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Growing up, I believed that the road to success was paved with lots of hard work, planning, goal-setting, follow-through, and consistency. I'm sure that a majority of people would agree with this statement. The only problem is, I just gave you a formula for success and didn’t mention God once. Isn’t it crazy that we'll live our whole lives not making plans for eternity? Instead, we make plans for retirement.
So, we know that as long as we go and work as hard as we can, by the time we’re seventy and can barely walk, we can enjoy our nursing home in peace. In other words, we understand the process of putting in hard work in order to enjoy life afterwards. However, we are missing the bigger picture.
I was friends with a man who worked at Enterprise for twenty years. As he was getting up in age, he decided to retire. After giving the company twenty years of his life -- every single day, doing what pleased them -- he finally had had enough. He walked into the office and told the boss that he needs to retire and that it’s time for him to move on. The boss simply replied, “okay, have a great day.” And my friend was replaced by the next morning.
Is this who we are spending our lives trying to please? People who will replace us in an instant? Isn’t it so crazy that we'll spend our entire life working for companies that will fire us just because we got sick and took a few days off? Or perhaps you’ve worked your entire life to pay off your house, only to have twenty years left to enjoy life mortgage free? I’ve never been good at math, but this type of life isn’t adding up…
We work our entire lives for food, clothes, and water. We devote our entire lives to companies that will drain us and then replace us. We spend hours away from family, missing out on birthdays and holidays for companies that are already interviewing our replacement.
In the meantime, our kids are being raised by a society that lacks morals and integrity. So while you’re toiling to provide for your child, you realize that after 18 years, your kid is not truly your kid, because they were raised by the society that kept you bound to its requirements. How many times have parents looked at their children and realized “This is not the kid I raised?”
The truth is, the heavy societal burden placed on us never gave us the chance to raise our own kids.
Jesus tell us to seek the kingdom first, and the things we spend our entire lives working for will be added to us.
24“No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon [money, possessions, fame, status, or whatever is valued more than the Lord]. 25“Therefore I tell you, stop being worried or anxious (perpetually uneasy, distracted) about your life, as to what you will eat or what you will drink; nor about your body, as to what you will wear. Is life not more than food, and the body more than clothing? 26Look at the birds of the air; they neither sow [seed] nor reap [the harvest] nor gather [the crops] into barns, and yet your heavenly Father keeps feeding them. Are you not worth much more than they? 27And who of you by worrying can add one hour to [the length of] his life? 28And why are you worried about clothes? See how the lilies and wildflowers of the field grow; they do not labor nor do they spin [wool to make clothing], 29yet I say to you that not even Solomon in all his glory and splendor dressed himself like one of these. 30But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which is alive and green today and tomorrow is [cut and] thrown [as fuel] into the furnace, will He not much more clothe you? You of little faith! 31Therefore do not worry or be anxious (perpetually uneasy, distracted), saying, ‘What are we going to eat?’ or ‘What are we going to drink?’ or ‘What are we going to wear?’ 32For the [pagan] Gentiles eagerly seek all these things; [but do not worry,] for your heavenly Father knows that you need them. 33But first and most importantly seek (aim at, strive after) His kingdom and His righteousness [His way of doing and being right--the attitude and character of God], and all these things will be given to you also. - Matthew 6:24-33 ISR
So there’s a decision to be made: keep working to provide for yourself, or seek the kingdom and let God provide for you. Or is your job, the one that might cut your hours next week, more faithful and dependable than the God that made the universe?
Maybe I’m wrong. Maybe you should worry about your job more than God. The only problem with that is, when that job fires you, leaving you behind on your rent payment, are you going to run to the God that you put second?
We all come to a point in our lives where we have to trust God, whether it’s after a diagnosis, the death of a loved one, or when we fall behind on rent payments. Contrary to popular belief, though, if you are not already putting God first, in your time of need, God will make sure that you come last.
25"You have ignored all my advice and have not been willing to let me correct you. 26So when you get into trouble, I will laugh at you. I will make fun of you when terror strikes - 27when it comes on you like a storm, bringing fierce winds of trouble, and you are in pain and misery. 28Then you will call for wisdom, but I will not answer. You may look for me everywhere, but you will not find me. 29You have never had any use for knowledge and have always refused to obey the Lord. 30You have never wanted my advice or paid any attention when I corrected you. 31So then, you will get what you deserve, and your own actions will make you sick. 32Inexperienced people die because they reject wisdom. Stupid people are destroyed by their own lack of concern. 33But whoever listens to me will have security. He will be safe, with no reason to be afraid." - Proverbs1:25-33 GNT
I’ve made the decision to throw everything aside and live each day doing what pleases God. Some days I fall short, but every day I set out with the sole purpose of working 100% for God. There are a lot of people who don’t agree with this decision. And perhaps I’m irresponsible or won’t achieve success this way, but the last time I checked, we all have to answer to someone when we die, and who’s to say that today isn’t your day?
16Then He told them a parable, saying, “There was a rich man whose land was very fertile and productive. 17And he began thinking to himself, ‘What shall I do, since I have no place [large enough in which] to store my crops?’ 18Then he said, ‘This is what I will do: I will tear down my storehouses and build larger ones, and I will store all my grain and my goods there. 19And I will say to my soul, “Soul, you have many good things stored up, [enough] for many years; rest andrelax, eat, drink and be merry (celebrate continually).”’ 20But God said to him, ‘You fool! This very night your soul is required of you; and now who will own all the things you have prepared?’ 21So it is for the one who continues to store up and hoard possessions for himself, and is not rich [in his relationship] toward God.” 22Jesus said to His disciples, “For this reason I tell you, do not worry about your life, as to what you will eat; or about your body, as to what you will wear. 23For life is more than food, and the body more than clothes. 24Consider the ravens, for they neither sow [seed] nor reap [the crop]; they have no storehouse or barn, and yet God feeds them. How much more valuable are you than the birds! 25And which of you by worrying can add one hour to his life’s span? 26So if you are not even able to do a very little thing [such as that], why are you worried about the rest? 27Consider the lilies and wildflowers, how they grow [in the open field]. They neither labor nor spin [wool to make clothing]; yet I tell you, not even Solomon in all his glory and splendor dressed himself like one of these. 28But if this is how God clothes the grass which is in the field today and tomorrow is thrown into the furnace, how much more will He clothe you? You of little faith! 29So as for you, do not seek what you will eat and what you will drink; nor have an anxious and unsettled mind. 30For all the [pagan] nations of the world greedily seek these things (Pagan: Synonyms (heathen, infidel, atheist , idolatrous) ; and your [heavenly] Father [already] knows that you need them.31But [strive for and actively] seek His kingdom, and these things will be given to you as well. 32Do not be afraid and anxious, little flock, for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom. 33“Sell your possessions (show compassion) and give [donations] to the poor. Provide money belts for yourselves that do not wear out, an unfailing and inexhaustible treasure in the heavens, where no thief comes near and no moth destroys. 34For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. - Luke 12:16-24 AMP
I guess the question is: You’ve spent your entire life working for man, and now I’m spending my entire life working for God — who is the stupid one?