“Be on guard! Be alert! You do not know when that time will come.” Mark 13:33 NIV
We live in a world where the prevalent system is that we work for money. If the work will not bring money, we are not interested. With bills to pay and responsibilities that require money, the work must count.But this wasn’t the original design. And only a few people live according to God’s original design for work.Adam was placed in the garden and was given work to do. The work wasn’t to earn money but to express God’s nature within him. He worked to find expression for what was inside him. The gold and food that he may have needed were already provided.The devil is an expert at making us focus on what we lack while turning our gaze away from what we already have. So even if the scripture says we shouldn’t worry about what we will eat, we look at what we don’t have and then worry.Only a handful of people live by the original design for work. And the anchor scripture is simply saying that we need to be swift in utilizing what the master has given us because he is coming back to take account (read the verses before and after).When you focus on what you don’t have, you won’t see what God has already given you. God won’t ask you how much money you made or whether you paid your bills on time. He’ll ask what you did with what you were given.
How can we redefine why we work so that our focus shifts?
Our needs and wants cloud our judgment. So, no matter how much we consciously try to refocus, the next bill payment brings us back to reality. What do we do?
Define why you work.
God looks at intent, not actions. Are you working because you believe you have an opportunity to express a gift or skill you have? Or are you working only because you need the salary? There’s no wrong answer.
Identify what you have been given.
What childlike passions did you have growing up? What gifts do you think you have? What experiences or knowledge makes people seek you out?
Align what you have been given with your reason for work.
Are you expressing what you have been given in what you do? If you are, that should be your focus. If you are not, then pray for a redirection. Something new can come up there or elsewhere.This isn’t about choosing passion over financial abundance. Your bills are real. This is about being intentional about your focus. You can either focus on what you don’t have and pluck some fruit from the tree of good and evil or focus on the abundance you already have on the other trees. We will all give account.
“Today, I choose to focus on the abundance given to me by doing the following…”
If no resources were given to you, then there is nothing to give account of. But that’s not the case because the scripture maintains the same narrative.Let the points in this article guide you as you take inventory of your gifts and redefine your why.
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