FOR THE WORK'S SAKE

Years ago I heard someone say, “It pays to serve God, but if you serve Him because it pays, it don’t pay”.

When you know you have been called to do something, do it for the sake of the calling. Do the work for the sake of the work. Do it for the sake of being obedient to God’s assignment on your life.  When you acknowledge the call of God and direction of God on your life, and your next thought is how you will be able to make a good living doing it, you’re off on the wrong foot. Understand that whatever the Lord has given you as a special gift or ability, that gift or ability is meant to be as much of a ministry tool as a means to make a living. So obey God for the sake of obedience and for what it is first and foremost: an avenue of ministry. He has already promised that He will pay what is right. He will supply all of our needs according to His riches in glory. He will even grant the desires of our hearts. He will give us full and unspeakable joy. Do you not trust Him to do what He said? Have you forgotten that it is impossible for Him to lie? Even if He did lie, you’d never know it because heaven and earth would immediately pass away.

Allow the Holy Spirit to lead you in how to perfect what you do. Allow Him to continue to reveal to you all of your gifts and abilities and how they all play a role in supporting your calling. Take nothing for granted. Think of nothing as too small or unimportant. Pay attention to minute details. Be meticulous. When the Holy Spirit points out something minute to you that requires attention, don’t brush it off and say, “Nobody’s going to be paying attention to something that small”.  How silly of you!  Did not the Holy Spirit just point it out to you? He’s paying attention. Is He not Somebody?  He showed you, and you saw it too, so yes, somebody will see it.  Excellence isn’t measured only by the big things easily drawn to people’s attention. True excellence is in the minutest of details that show that you care about everything and leave nothing to chance. That even the smallest of details are a big deal to you. That you’re not just trying to make an impression or look good on the surface for somebody, but that you care about something as if everybody will notice it, even if you are the only one who notices it.

REMEMBER: Nobody’s perfect, but we can all be excellent.

Don’t be someone whose main mission is to get paid for something that you can’t offer in excellence. Don’t be someone who’s always up to something, from one scheme to the next, one business venture to the next, and never hitting pay dirt, never tapping into your true calling. Don’t minimize the call of God on your life buy putting price tags on it, especially when you haven’t even perfected any of it. Stop charging, and in many cases, over charging people for products or services that you haven’t put your best effort into, just for a quick buck or just to say you’re making money for it. If you are truly called of God to do what you are doing, He already has your way made for you. He knows where every dollar will come from that will be placed into your hands. For every dollar you make you need to realize that there could be someone out there killing future clients via word of mouth about your careless and sloppy work. 

Let everything you do be done as unto the Lord, and for His glory. Realize that you are always center stage under His spotlight, with Him as your audience. Before you seek money, seek to be your very best. Seek growth. Seek to be consistent. Seek God’s approval. If you’re going to be exhausted at the end of the day, let it be from pouring out your best energy to produce the best possible results, and not from chasing pipe dreams and quick cash in exchange for mediocrity. Trust me, if the Lord approves, you’ll get paid and paid well, and in more ways than just money. The fullness of joy that He has promised comes from more than just a full bank account. Some of it will come from simply knowing that you have given all.