What are You Living for? part 3

Jesus made clear why He did what He did when He said, “Unless a grain of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains by itself. But if it dies, it produces much fruit” John 12:24 CSB. As most of us know, out of one seed comes a vast harvest, but that seed must die, in order to multiply. As long as the seed “saves” its life, it remains alone. But when it “loses” its life, it multiplies into a harvest. You can’t “save” your own life, but you can “lose” it. 

It’s simple, really. If you try to “save” your life, in the end you “lose” it. But if you dare to “lose” it for Jesus’ sake, in the end you “save” it. Jesus Himself is the supreme example of this principle.
 

Career vs. Mission

There is yet another way of looking at this whole question of “losing” and “saving” your life. That is to ask the question: Is your life a career or a mission? There is a vast difference between those two concepts. A quick glance at a dictionary reveals the essence of the difference:

• A career is something you choose for yourself.
• A mission is something chosen for you, by someone else.
   
  

I think we can all agree, there is a huge difference between living for your career and being sent on a mission.
 

The truth is, the Bible never talks about having a career. You will never find that word in the Bible. Having a career is not a Biblical issue. Having a mission is. Please understand: it’s not that believers don’t have careers. We do. Some of us are engineers, some are doctors, some are farmers, some are bankers, nurses, teachers, and some are writers. But the difference is this: The people of the world live for their careers; the people of God don’t. 

When your career is central in your life, then you are career-driven and career-minded while you climb the career ladder. You take a job and leave it two years later because it’s a “good career move.” You break all the significant relationships in one place and move across the country because your career demands it. Everything is calculated to get you someday to that elusive place, called “the top.” When you get there, your career will be complete, and the world will applaud your achievements. 



I am suggesting that being career-minded, in this sense, is precisely what Jesus meant when He said, “He who would save his life will lose it.” Your career may well keep you from fulfilling your mission in life, and your mission may never make much sense as a career.

• Your career is the answer to the question, “What do you do for a living?” Your mission is the answer to the question, “What are You Living For?”
• Your career is a ladder to climb… Your mission is a journey you take.
• Your career takes you to the top… Your mission leads you to the cross.
• Your career makes you a professional… Your mission makes you a disciple.
• Your career takes you to the top… Your mission leads you to the cross.
• Your career is about the here and now… Your mission is about eternity.
   
  

If you are just here to eat, sleep, go to college, get a degree, get married, get a job, have some children, climb the ladder, make some money, buy a summer home, retire gracefully, grow old and die then what’s the big deal? All of that is okay. Please understand: I am not saying any of it is bad or a sin, but if that is all there is to life, then you are really no different from the pagans who don’t even believe in God.

Continued tomorrow