CALLED OR DRIVEN TO YOUR WORK
My Double Call
"As a prisoner for the Lord then, I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received." Ephesians 4: 1
I love business. I love everything about it, except for some of the problems of course. But there again, I am a problem solver. I never look to who created the problem, but only how do we solve it. I am a deal junky. I love getting a vision for a project, planning the project, pulling a team together to make it happen, and delegating the different responsibilities out.
Business has been one of my passions in life for 47 years. When I decided to get serious about my relationship with Christ at 31, I began to develop a second passion. That passion became a purpose to serve my Lord in some way. Since business was my original passion, I began to think about how I could bring this new passion into play with my business. That is when I began to first think about the fact that God had called me to be both a builder of homes and His kingdom. God began to use this passion to serve Christ in some of my daily business activities. People in our company were coming to know the Lord, and our people were bringing other people they dealt with into the Kingdom. God was trully blessing our double call.
Those were some of the most amazing and fun days of my career. God had given me the opportunity to use my gifts and desires in a profession that I loved would have done for nothing if I could. This idea of business and God working together was new to most people at this time. I began to search for resources that would encourage and teach me as I undertook this journey. I finally stumbled on to a conference in Atlanta Ga. by an organization called Leadership Dynamics. It was taught my Bruce Cook and Howard Hendrix. Anyone who knows Prof. Hendrix, knows you will want to latch on to him and never let go. He is an amazing motivator and teacher of God's Word. In 1988 someone introduced me to Fellowship of Companies For Christ which literally opened doors in my heart that changed my life.
Please do not misunderstand me. I do not relay this in any manner to show off myself or to tell others what they should do. It is only for the purpose of letting others realize the call Jesus can place on our life and the joy and impact that can bring. In our profession, we are to work and provide for our needs while offering a service or producing a product in the marketplace. But, we are also to share the message of God and his love along the way. We do that by the way in which we conduct our business and letting others know why we do it. What better place than where we spend the most time during the week and in something we love to do, something God has gifted and called us to do.
Our goal should be to live our lives today with a confidence that we are fulfilling His purpose. If we have a special business gift, then we do it as best as we can and to the glory of God. God has also given us a special gift in serving Him. This does not have to be something big, but something we feel good doing. I have a friend who says a prayer before every business meeting. Another friend who passes out a pamphlet to everyone he meets. Others lead Bible studies in their office. Many tithe their profits to various ministries. Someone gave me the book, MAN IN THE MIRROR by Partrick Morley, in 1991, Since then, I have had the pleasure of giving that book to countless homeowners, subcontractors, suppliers, real estate agents and many other people. It is an amazing feeling when someone calls you a day, or, even two years later and shares with you the impact something like this has made on their life.
We are not here just for our enjoyment or to consume things for ourselves. We are to give something back. Why not give the greatest gift of all. Each person has been shaped by God for a specific ministry. Do you know what yours is? Do you hear His call?
