day 1293: 2013 Year-End Examination

"Let a man examine himself…"

At the end of the year we are usually scrambling to get everything on our to do lists out of the way and cleaned and tidied up for a fresh start in the New Year. I also notice that at the end of the year there is a mad dash to use up all of the health reserve money that has been saved up tax-free throughout the year. I always thought that it must be interesting for doctors who get this year-end set of appointments for examinations, whether people need them or not. The end of the year is when most of us do the self-examinations of ourselves. We reflect back over the past year and evaluate how we did in life, work, spiritually, financially, etc. and we then set our goals for the New Year, some being called our "New Year's Resolutions". This self-examination is good. Paul calls for us to do this continually in I Corinthians 11:28.

David Wilkerson, the deceased author of The Cross and the Switchblade and former pastor of the Times Square Church in New York City says, "Paul further urges us, 'Let a man examine himself…'. The Greek word for examine here means 'scrutinize, test.' The apostle is saying, 'Test yourself—see if you’re walking according to God’s Word.' We’re to constantly ask ourselves, 'Am I changing? Am I becoming more loving and tenderhearted? Am I treating my family and friends with godly respect? Is my conversation becoming more righteous?” These are great questions of self-examination as we head into our new year of work life. As we set our goals for the person we want to be at work and to be a person who works to their purpose, we can be assured that our constant self-examination and adjustments and corrections are the way that God wants us to live and pursue His righteousness. So, set those goals this year with confidence and great expectations that this New Year will be a year of positive change for each of us.

Happy 2014! Purposed WorKING will be back on Monday January 6th, 2014!





Reference: I Corinthians 11:28 (New Living Translation)

day 529: What Do You Love? (Redux)

Original Post: Tuesday, December 30, 2008

day 61: What Do You Love?
I sometimes amuse myself by thinking about the words we use at work that we don't really mean or words we use but would never really talk about what they mean, not at work we wouldn't that is. The greatest example of this is the word "love". We all the time will say, "I love doing...", or "I would love to take that project on", or "I'd love to get together and go over that with you", or we ask in an interview, "what do you really love to do?". But if we ever stopped to define what those loves mean or really talk about what love is and what we truly love or not, we would likely pull up short and think better about talking about this at work. Love is not a usual work topic. This is the usual time of the year when many of us take inventory of the past year and begin to set goals and objectives for the coming year. This can coincide with business planning so it seems natural to set our own professional goals and might as well set our own personal goals while we are at it. Most of us start those lists with what we want to get done throughout the year and those goals may cross the areas of physical, spiritual, relational, financial and vocation. There are always many things that we want to accomplish and achieve within the next 12 months. Not often though do we sit down and take the time to catalogue what it is that we love and how we are aligning our time, efforts, and resources against that list. Maybe this year would be a good year to think differently (thank you for that tag line Apple). If we were to start with what it is that we truly love and then build our personal and professional goals from there, then the list might be different this year and it might even be eye-opening or life-changing. We are told in I John 2:15 that we are to "stop loving the evil world and all that it offers you, for when you love the world, you show you do not have the love of the Father in you". What does this mean for us as believers who are trying to bring purpose to our work and lives? What this means is that we are to take a hard look at ourselves and determine what it is that we are truly putting our love towards and if it is towards worldly ways that undermine who it is that we can ultimately be for Christ, that we need to re-prioritize and do so quickly. This is relevant in our work and the examples we are in the workplace. If we are chasing that next promotion and raise and doing so at all costs to ourselves, our families and our co-workers, it is a pretty good bet that money and power would be high up, if not on the top of, our "I love..." list. These are hard things to reconcile but God calls us to be constantly checking ourselves and making adjustments. To be the person He wants us to be at work would not to be known as the person who is blindly chasing money, power, or even the next job. The right life example would be one where others could see that there is a larger context and purpose that we chase and fix our eyes upon and how we work is influenced by that choice. As we look to a new year, now would be the best of times to take a love inventory before we set our next year's goals and objectives.

Reference: I John 2:15 (New Living Testament)

day 317: Each Day Is a New Beginning

This first week into the New Year the list in front of us looks fresh and manageable, although challenging. The gyms are full too as those pledged pounds are coming off. But just like the gym that will empty out in the next couple of weeks, in a couple of months we may have a hard time finding that list of objectives and goals we set for the year. That is why as we plan our work it is so much better to lay out a long look vision and then back into it with chunked up goals and objectives, small bites that are achievable and look like they are doable when we see them on the list. Taking things day by day and step by step can keep us going. I read a great quote from an ultra-marathon runner who says that when he is out there on the road for 100 miles or more in front of him that he has to remind himself that the finish line doesn't move...it is only him that has to keep moving forward one step at a time. Our work objectives can be the same. We don't have to let them be overwhelming if we realize that one step at a time, one day at a time, one task at a time will get us there. The same is true of how we are working to work and live our purpose. Paul gives us this promise in Philippians 1:6; "And I am certain that God, who began the good work within you, will continue His work until it is finally finished on the day when Christ Jesus returns." As we start this new year, this new decade, this new time for each of us, let us not get discouraged or side-tracked in our purpose. Let us take each day, one step at a time with each day, like today, being a new beginning.

Reference: Philippians 1:6 (New Living Testament)

day 313: 2010 Resolutions!

Today is the last day of 2009 and the last day of the first decade of the 2000's. Want to talk about how fast a decade goes by, think back to where you were on the Millennium and fast forward to now. Yes, the decade went by faster than we can TIVO through the commercials. And now, we sit down to get those New Year's Resolutions in order and to set our goals and objectives at work for the coming year. I offer this advice as those lists get written down and posted up on the mirror, in the calendars, on the refrigerator, etc.; if you really want to get things done in this coming year, rely less on yourself and the things that you must do, and lean more on God and what you can do for others. Purposed worKING was started because I felt called to share what God was saying to me about work, through the reading of His Word. His Word to us is filled with limitless lessons about work and life, but at some point we have to distill it down into our own framework and our own takeaways to apply to ourselves. What I am constantly amazed by is how God just keeps saying to us, "Don't go it alone" and "Don't do it for yourself". We are so conditioned in our culture to do both. We go to work everyday to do the best we can for ourselves and to succeed and achieve by what we individually do! So, how do we reconcile the conflicting messages that we get daily? We do this by staying in His Word, reflecting on our learning and confirming them with our prayers and counsel of others. If there is one set of things we should resolve to do in 2010 these are; to stay close to God in His word and prayer, resolve to take Him to work with us each and every day, and to set our minds to others for the year, not to ourselves. If we want to be really productive in 2010, then the last one on our list will take care of that for us. We get that promise in Titus 3:14: "Our people must learn to do good by meeting the urgent needs of others; then they will not be unproductive." I wish all the best for you in 2010. I am blessed by the faithfulness you show in your walk with the Lord. I know this to be true, otherwise you would not be reading this, this far. I'm looking forward to another great year of worKING to God's Purpose...together with you!

Reference: Titus 3:14 (New Living Testament)

day 61: What Do You Love?

I sometimes amuse myself by thinking about the words we use at work that we don't really mean or words we use but would never really talk about what they mean, not at work we wouldn't that is. The greatest example of this is the word "love". We all the time will say, "I love doing...", or "I would love to take that project on", or "I'd love to get together and go over that with you", or we ask in an interview, "what do you really love to do?". But if we ever stopped to define what those loves mean or really talk about what love is and what we truly love or not, we would likely pull up short and think better about talking about this at work. Love is not a usual work topic. This is the usual time of the year when many of us take inventory of the past year and begin to set goals and objectives for the coming year. This can coincide with business planning so it seems natural to set our own professional goals and might as well set our own personal goals while we are at it. Most of us start those lists with what we want to get done throughout the year and those goals may cross the areas of physical, spiritual, relational, financial and vocation. There are always many things that we want to accomplish and achieve within the next 12 months. Not often though do we sit down and take the time to catalogue what it is that we love and how we are aligning our time, efforts, and resources against that list. Maybe this year would be a good year to think differently (thank you for that tag line Apple). If we were to start with what it is that we truly love and then build our personal and professional goals from there, then the list might be different this year and it might even be eye-opening or life-changing. We are told in I John 2:15 that we are to "stop loving the evil world and all that it offers you, for when you love the world, you show you do not have the love of the Father in you". What does this mean for us as believers who are trying to bring purpose to our work and lives? What this means is that we are to take a hard look at ourselves and determine what it is that we are truly putting our love towards and if it is towards worldly ways that undermine who it is that we can ultimately be for Christ, that we need to re-prioritize and do so quickly. This is relevant in our work and the examples we are in the workplace. If we are chasing that next promotion and raise and doing so at all costs to ourselves, our families and our co-workers, it is a pretty good bet that money and power would be high up, if not on the top of, our "I love..." list. These are hard things to reconcile but God calls us to be constantly checking ourselves and making adjustments. To be the person He wants us to be at work would not to be known as the person who is blindly chasing money, power, or even the next job. The right life example would be one where others could see that there is a larger context and purpose that we chase and fix our eyes upon and how we work is influenced by that choice. As we look to a new year, now would be the best of times to take a love inventory before we set our next year's goals and objectives.

Reference: I John 2:15 (New Living Testament)