Godliness with Contentment

I have been told that the way to be truly happy in life is to find a job or career that you really love and then put your whole heart into it: make it a passion.  I can’t say that this is true; I have had many various kinds of jobs throughout my life: I have worked in sales, I have worked in service, and I have worked in manufacturing, and I have had managerial work as well but I have yet to find any work that I really, really loved.  After all work is still work, and work ‘by the sweat of our brow’ is still part of the curse of this fallen world. 

But I will tell you what I have discovered in the twenty-two years that I have been trying to walk with Jesus out in the highways and byways of life.  God has been teaching me much throughout these twenty-two years about ‘walking in the Spirit’, being ‘led of the Spirit’, and being ‘filled with the Spirit’.  Much of the learning has been through trial and error; His trials, sent for learning’s sake and my errors but nevertheless there has been much taught and much of it caught.  This learning has been intensified since well before my first blog post here in ‘The Warming House’ and really solidified in my mind and spirit since my last entry here back in November.  The reason for my silence during this time was that God was working ‘into to me’ what He has been trying to help me work out for so many years.

What I have discovered is that when your sole desire is to please the Lord Jesus Christ in everything you do, and when His passion becomes your passion, it doesn’t really matter where you are, what you are doing, who you are doing it with, or even if you are doing it alone.  Why is that? His passion is people.  The scriptures say that Jesus “for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame,” (Heb. 12:2) The ‘joy that was set before Him’ is souls. All those that His suffering would and did purchase.  His passion is people and no matter where you are, no matter where you are working or where you are worshipping, there are people who need His love, mercy, and grace, and there are people who need your kind words and prayers. 

This is something that I suppose most pastors and missionaries understand very, very well.  Many of them have left homes and jobs, family and friends, to go to a place oftentimes that outwardly has very little to offer for the pleasing of the eye or the comfort of the body.  But because they have a passion for souls, they have a passion for people; to help people find Christ, to help them through their struggles, to pray for them in their need, to show His compassion for them.  Because they have His passion for people they endure as seeing Him Who is invisible and rejoice with a glory filled joy that cannot be explained. (ref. 1 Peter 1:8)

When I go to work I do not go to earn a paycheck.  You may say, “Come on Carl, Really?!? You have to earn a living.”  And I say, “Yes, that’s true. The scripture does say that if a man will not work he shouldn’t eat.”  I didn’t say that a paycheck was not part of the whole package, a laborer is worthy of his hire.  In fact, if they refused to pay me I would most likely feel compelled to go out and find another job.  A job where of course I would find more people who need His love, mercy, and grace. There are always plenty of people who need His compassion; our kind deeds and words, and our sincere prayers.

We are commanded to “Honor all men, love the brotherhood, fear God, and honor the king.” (1 Peter 2:17) We will do this if we are led of the Spirit, and filled with the Spirit, and walking in the Spirit.  We will discover that the desires of the flesh; the need to ‘feel happy’ or any other thing, will have no power over us. We will discover the secret of 1^st Timothy 6:6 which says, “but godliness with contentment is great gain.” And we will rejoice with a glory filled joy that cannot be explained.

He will increase in us through the Spirit,

And we will decrease.
 (we meaning our selfish inclinations)

“He must increase, WE must decrease!”

This I have discovered is the way to have a truly joy-filled life.