Proverbs 11:28 (MSG) A life devoted to things is a dead life, a stump; a God-shaped life is a flourishing tree.
The marketplace is filled with people who are building. And building, per se, is good. It’s not the building that’s the problem: it is what one is “devoted to” in that “building” that’s the issue.
Jesus ben Joseph (as, no doubt, he was known in his younger days), this builder, artisan, craftsman from Nazareth, was known for his trade, his work. Among the responsibilities of a Jewish father to his sons were circumcision, and the teaching of a trade – in this case, the potential of a tree (the kind of wood, what could be done with it, what it was best for). Joseph did his job.
More importantly, that teaching included building an understanding of the “Why” of Jewish rites and beliefs. God intended His people to build lives with eternal meaning – not just temporal excellence - and fathers were to pass down to sons that rich heritage of excellence and eternity.
Of course the people with whom he grew up were confused when Jesus the craftsman returned as Jesus the Rabi with a bunch of followers. Where is theological training? He’s an artisan, not a theologian! Jesus, the Christ, came into the world when there existed the same confusion then as today – the scared is over there; the secular is here; and never the twain shall meet. The worship of dead stuff has always been a poor, but widely accepted, substitute for the workshop of the living.
Devoting one’s life to the accumulation of power, prestige, and play–things yield stuff, but not satisfaction: Success, but not significance. Devoting self to the living and eternal should change how we do business: for some of us, power and prestige will follow – not because it’s pursued, but because God wants to show Himself alive in our lives.
The power of our influence will flow out of the prestige of doing business so well that others want to know the how and why.
Upon what are you focused – success (a stump) or significance (a tree)?
Copyright © 2010 by P. Griffith Lindell
Tuesday, May 11, 2010
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1 comment:
Ah, focus is truly everything. The world and much of scripture tells us that we should take care of our families and provide for them, work hard and not be slackers. Scripture then says that we are to be in the world but not part of it. I find this conundrum quite amusing and at the same time frustrating.
I believe God would have us enjoy His blessings. I also believe He would not have us be so consumed by those blessing so as to forget that this is not our home, only our pilgrimage through it to a better place.
Many who have stored up for a rainy day are often too critical of those who have not. And many who have not are too critical of those who haves stored up. The first saying the others are slackers and the latter saying the former has no faith.
Balance is everything and it is different for all of us. God has gifted (bent) each of us differently and given each of us a different pathway through life. Fair or not God is sovereign and He is good and He is faithful.
It is frustrating not having all the answers. But no matter what the circumstances are, we have the peace to know that the Lord will take us through each one and help us to be better than we thought we could be.
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