The Oldest Profession (Part 2)

Speaking of the subject of work... It's definitely something that God is pleased with. Or, in another vein, LACK of work is something God is DIS-pleased with. Consider these Proverbs...

“Go to the ant, O sluggard; consider her ways, and be wise. Without having any chief, officer, or ruler, she prepares her bread in summer and gathers her food in harvest. How long will you lie there, O sluggard? When will you arise from your sleep? A little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to rest, and poverty will come upon you like a robber, and want like an armed man” (Proverbs 6:6-11).

“A slack hand causes poverty, but the hand of the diligent makes rich. He who gathers in summer is a prudent son, but he who sleeps in harvest is a son who brings shame” (Proverbs 10:4-5).

Now, here's the rub... while God seems to be pleased with work, it won't save anyone's soul.

Some individuals actually believe that on the day they stand before God, they'll be able to present their life of hard work, achievements and business acumen as what God will ultimately be pleased with. While He honors and respects hard work, it is nothing that will guarantee a ticket into Heaven.

In fact, there is nothing that will guarantee a home in heaven except for faith.

“And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him” (Hebrews 11:6).

"For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not by works, so that no one can boast" (Ephesians 2:8, 9).

And, of course, the faith we are speaking of here is faith in Christ and His finished work on the Cross.

So, here we are with a dilemma; God likes work, but works won't save you from Perdition.

And yet, the Bible tells us that works are good!

"For the Son of Man is going to come in his Father’s glory with his angels, and then he will reward each person according to what he has done" (Matthew 16:27).

So, what will help us to understand the apparent impasse of all these ideas?

Well, it's simply this... we are saved by our faith. We are rewarded for our works. Many people get these two terms mixed up, or consider them to be synonyms. But they are not.

You see... there will be rewards in Heaven for what we have done for the Lord on earth. Once again... our works won't guarantee us a spot in Heaven, but they will give us dividends in eternity.

What things have you trusted in to earn God's love and favor? Are they legitimate, or are they false? Are you able to rest in the fact that Christ paid for your salvation completely, and that you do not need to earn your way to Heaven?

Feel free to leave comments.

Jeff Allen on Underwear

The Oldest Profession (Part 1)

I met a young man, probably in his early twenties, at a Farmer's Market recently, who told me he didn't work. He was hanging around the market playing a drum. Someone had told him he was a "drain on society" because he didn't work and he wasn't very happy about their estimation of him.

The conversation didn't last long enough for me to learn why he didn't work. Was it because he was on disability? Was it because he didn't believe in it? Was it because he was independently wealthy? A foray of questions went through my mind about why he didn't work.

The experience caused me to think about work and God's Word.

Many people refer to prostitution as 'the world's oldest profession.' However, that's not true. The world's oldest profession is landscaper. Adam's (the first man's) job was to "...dress the garden" (Genesis 2:15 - KJV).

Until sin entered the human race through Adam, work was a joy. After Adam fell, however, work became toil because the ground was cursed with "thorns and thistles" (Gen. 3:18 - KJV).

I always wondered why God said, "The ground is cursed because of you," (Gen. 3:17 - KJV) to Adam, until I realized that Adam was created from the ground (Gen. 2:7). His name literally means, "red clay."

Thus, the ground was cursed because the man from whom it was made was cursed, due to his sin.

It seems that, to a certain degree, even non-agrarian work tends to have "weeds" in it. In other words, even if a person finds their job to be rewarding, they tend to find aspects of it to be drudgery and difficult.

Nevertheless, it seems from scripture, men are supposed to work as mentioned in this passage from the New Testament -

"Make it your ambition to lead a quiet life, to mind your own business and to work with your hands, just as we told you, so that your daily life may win the respect of outsiders and so that you will not be dependent on anybody" (I Thessalonians 4:11 - NIV).

II Thessalonians 3:10 goes even further...

"For even when we were with you, we used to give you this command: 'If anyone is not willing to work, neither should he eat.'"

And, of course, the Bible gives provision for those who legitimately can't work and need to be cared for.

But, back to my young acquaintance who doesn't work... assuming he's of reasonably sound mind and is physically able, he should work. Plain and simple.

The world is too full of individuals who have fantastic physical and mental limitations, challenges, liabilities and other problems, who earn their way in this world.

Proverbs 26:13 says, "The lazy man says, "There is a lion in the road! A fierce lion is in the streets!" (KJV). Some people get very creative as to why they can't go to work. I'm sure employers have heard even more absurd excuses than this.

So, Christian men... it's incumbent upon you that if you are physically and mentally able to, to work. And not only to work, but to overcome the "weeds" found in your work in order to find value in being productive and not lazy.

Mark Gungor - Men's Brains, Women's Brains

Comedian Mark Gungor - Men and Sex (short video)

Being the Hero

Another movie is coming out about a Super Hero - the Green Lantern! I LOVE what they're doing with special effects these days. When I was little, I always wished they would be able to create some movie magic that would make these comic book heroes come to life. AND THEY HAVE!!!

As I've remarked before, I'm all about the hero... the guy who swoops in to save the day. And I think God made us to be that way, men... to be the savior... the guy with the cape and symbol on his chest to save the damsel in distress, as it were.

There is an immense dichotomy, however, regarding what a true hero is in the light of scripture.

The Apostle Paul talks about this in this passage...

"I know a man in Christ who fourteen years ago was caught up to the third heaven. Whether it was in the body or out of the body I do not know—God knows. And I know that this man—whether in the body or apart from the body I do not know, but God knows— was caught up to paradise and heard inexpressible things, things that no one is permitted to tell. I will boast about a man like that, but I will not boast about myself, except about my weaknesses" (2 Corinthians 12:2 - 9).

The Hebrews believed in three heavens... the sky above us where the clouds roam (known as 'the firmament' in scripture), the place where the stars dwell (outer space) and actual Heaven... the dwelling place of God. God's dwelling place is the 'Third Heaven' Paul is referring to here.

Paul saw things that were unimaginable. However, God saw the potential in Paul for pride because of what he saw (theologian that he was), so a literal demon was given to him to pummel his physical body... something he asked God to take away... three times! But, God evidently deemed it proper to leave this demonic entity in Paul's life to keep him from falling according to pride... in the same way Satan originally had (Isaiah 14:3 - 20).

Paul follows the above passage up with this astounding statement... "That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong" (II Corinthians 12:10 - NIV).

The hard part about walking in the Kingdom, guys, is that God is more pleased when we surrender the areas we have strength in to Him... and function in areas we may not be too strong in.

It's hard for us to do such a thing, because we want to be those warriors who defeat the foe. And we fantasize about physically thwarting some evil thing that threatens our family or a loved one.

Scripture explains the way we get to vanquish the real foes in our lives... on our knees.

"For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does. The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ" (II Corinthians 10:3 - 5 - NIV).

The most effective thing we can do as men who love our families, friends, acquaintances, etc., is to spend time every day warring over issues we and they are facing... through prayer.

Are you the hero, men? Warriors in your family and workplace? As Mary Jane Watson would say to Spidey... "Go get 'em, Tiger!"

Christian Comedian Jeff Allen - for Father's Day