Matthew 20.
Be content with your position, your pay; your vocation and your location. Where we are now is so often where we don't want to be. But if we backed up a bit and imagine ourselves in our earlier days of life, we often (though not always) find we are actually currently living some form of the dream we held in our earlier days. Maybe not in every minute detail, but we find ourselves better off than we would have imagined.
This gets complicated when we haven't gotten everything we ever wanted or realized every big dream we ever had... But, truly, does this mean we are in a bad place? I so easily forget to be thankful. I have expressed my extreme talents of forgetfulness before...
As followers of Jesus, we tend to express this discontent in the form of seeking our calling. Not in and of itself a bad thing in the least. Yet this deceptively "holy" way of saying,"This isn't good enough,God," still flies in the face of the One Who has brought us to where we currently stand for His purpose for our lives. In the parable of the vineyard workers, the owner is not fair, but he is strikingly good, giving everyone what their family needs to survive the day despite the length of their labor. Following His story, Jesus tells His followers He is going to be killed because of His Kingdom Agenda. Then, oddly, on the heels of this, a controversy ensues as to which of Jesus' followers will get the highest honor of being seated next to Him in His Kingdom. Forget the fact these were the least likely of people to be called to follow this Rabbi.
Yet Jesus called them. And when a Rabbi called you to follow him, it was because he was convinced you could embody everything he was and taught. They were living a greater honor than they would have ever dreamed in their younger days. Yet they were clamoring for more.
"Be content with your pay," said John the Baptiser. "Don't worry,instead pray," Paul says. "Which of you by worrying can add a single day to your life?" asks Jesus. Don't miss today, the significance of your place in it, and the lessons God is teaching you right now. The next step will come soon enough. And it will be the right step in it's time.
posted by Will at 4:49 AM
5 Comments:
That's kind of difficult for me, because the main position I would announce for myself would be a college student, which implies moving on to something else.
However, knowing myself I can assume that it will probably difficult for me after I get a job anyway.
10:34 AM
This is one of the most relevant posts I have read from any blog in a long time. How many vain or sinful pursuits do we mask with "spiritual lingo". I can understand in some instances when God does stir up something in you to GO to a specific place, but for the most part you can trace every "calling" back to some sort of frustration with the current position being held. I miss you friend. We should catch up sometime. My blogging days are over for now. Just ran out of steam and material. Hope all is well brother.
1:19 PM
Thanks for bringing my attention back here, Petie. I needed to re-read my own words today. I hope to connect soon, bro.
4:41 AM
Very well said Will - very applicable to where I'm at right now. Keep on putting awesome thoughts out there, and being generally awesome and encouraging. It is noticed, and helps.
9:25 AM
True. I think it is impossible to divorce this from the concept of self-sacrifice, which is absolutely key to being a Christian. It is about taking yourself and the things you would usually do for yourself and sacrificing them for the good of the church. I would say that "being content" is about not seeking the things which promote yourself.
I just read about all of this in the book "Reframing Paul" by Mark Strom. It is an absolutely incredible book. I wish I was smart enough to think of all this myself, but I give full credit to Strom.
In this book, Strom talked about how it was radical in the ancient days just like today. People often followed the philosophy of "know yourself," which means "knowing your place in the world." There was this social hierarchy that people fell into, and people would use this system to make the right moves to get themselves further up the ladder. Not too much different from today, I guess. Then enter Paul, who taught self-sacrifice instead of furthering yourself.
1:04 PM
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