Restoring Relationships: Vocation and Calling

​What areas in your life does God have interest?
What parts of your life can God bless?
Which roles in your life can proclaim the Gospel?
 
Leonard and Emma were an elderly couple that hadn’t had many breaks in life. They had been farmers, but weather issues, a weak economy, mediocre soil and Leonard’s health drove them off the farm. Therefore, they moved to the city to work as a janitor and housekeeper. This was somewhat dangerous based on where their jobs were located. Leonard was mugged and beaten badly one night. From there they took on a full-time calling or vocation of overseeing a house and the kids living there.
 
This is where I enter the scene. I was one of the three kids the elderly couple would look after. Leonard and Emma would garden, mow, clean and raise me on Bible stories. They would play Candyland, baseball and tell me about God. Leonard and Emma faithfully and skillfully took on the vocation God had given them - to be my grandparents. Because of this particular vocation in their lives, I have stories of being loved and the love of God from as far back as I can remember.
 
Several years later a man named Steve Spark took on a vocation of working for Deluxe Corporation. He was a winsome man with a big smile who rose through the ranks. He was honest, hard working and a tremendous leader. Steve became my capable and caring boss in 1992. I was immediately drawn to his leadership style and I trusted him implicitly. Little did I know that one of his God given vocations would send me into an entirely unexpected vocation of my own.
 
Without going into detail, Steve confronted me one day as an older brother in Christ. I still remember the discomfort I felt as he said, “Nick, does it bother you that we have been working together for a year and it wasn’t until today that I learned you were a Christian?” That loving confrontation was instrumental in changing the direction of my life. It was a wake-up call to the fact that I was dangerously close to abandoning my faith in Christ. It was a painful and necessary aspect of my journey that ignited a passion to follow Jesus.
 
This Sunday we are going to consider the vocations in your life that God has given you. God’s calling on your life has to do with your job, your family, your citizenship and so many other areas as well. As you have read in my previous words; God can use it all, including the tough stuff. God can bring purpose, significance and joy into all facets of your life. Will you let Him?
 
Colossians 3 23 Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men,24 knowing that from the Lord you will receive the inheritance as your reward. You are serving the Lord Christ.
 
In Christ,
Pastor Nick