How Do You View Your Vocation?
November 30th, 2006 | Michael Pink
In Ephesians 4, the Apostle Paul writes, “I, therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you that you walk worthy of the vocation wherewith you are called.” Paul saw himself as a prisoner of the Lord. He recognized that the life he lived was not his own, but rather it belonged to Jesus Christ.
My question is: How do you view your life? Do you live your life with the present moment-to-moment knowledge that you have been bought with a price? You are not your own. With that knowledge, Paul urges us to walk worthy of the vocation or calling wherewith we are called.
Sadly, too many of us feel that unless we are in the ministry, we are not really called, or at least we are not fulfilling our calling. I want to tell you that most of us are not called to full time ministry as we typically understand that word. Most of us are called to a vocation and Paul urges us to walk worthy of that vocation. He is literally saying that we are to walk out our vocation in a Godly manner worthy of the One who called us to the work in the first place, the Lord Jesus Christ.
The vocation most of us are called to is smack dab in the middle of the marketplace.
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December 1st, 2006 at 7:27 am
I couldn’t agree more. About 10 years ago I felt called into the ministry. I quit my job, enrolled in Bible College and worked for next to nothing for my then church. 5 years later I was faced with needing to be the provider for my new family adn the need to replace my wife’s income (RN).
Long story short. I didn’t mis-hear God’s calling on my life, I just misunderstood it. Yes, I needed training, and I wouldn’t have met my wife if I hadn’t been in pulpit ministry, but my calling was to workplace ministry.
In answer to your 1st question, this is a challenge I face daily. It’s to easy being an American. Every day is faced with challenges that do not appear to have eternal consequences. It’s to easy getting caught up in the status quo.
A childhood friend jumped off a bridge the day before Thanksgiving. I hadn’t seen him since I was 13, but we live in the same city (Portland OR) and he was actually on my heart that week. If I had been more in tune with my spiritual calling and less consumed with the details of the day who knows what would have happened…
December 1st, 2006 at 8:37 am
Wow…this is unbelieveable that 5 minutes before I read this post for Nov 30, I was talking to a neighbor about an upcoming job possibility in the marketplace, which was scary to me because I’ve always worked for ministries. What an encouragement this was and most definitely a God-thing moment! It encourages me to not only trust Him for future employment but also to trust Him for how he wants to use me.
December 1st, 2006 at 10:32 am
Just want you all to know that though I don’t always comment on your posts, I do eventually read the vast majority of them and greatly appreciate everyone of them. You are a blessing not only to me, but also to the many readers who visit but do not post. THANK YOU!
December 5th, 2006 at 4:18 am
I’m very sure that God has called me to serve as a “lay” minister in my work — and He keeps guiding me to new and challenging positions in the past two decades. Sometimes it’s really tough to adjust to new posts but as I’m very sure that I’m serving Him by following His guidance, I often pray that I can glorify His name in all my postings. I might have to take up another new job again & I hope that I can be a witness and a blessing to new people I meet. Since I’m in my middle-age, I also pray that God will equip me with the physical, psychological and intellectual strength for the new challenges, on top of spiritual support from above!