Making a Living or Making a Life?
Making a Living or Making a Life?
1 Corinthians 10: 31; James 4: 14; Romans 14: 12; John 14: 6
A small boy was sitting up on a store box by the grocery entrance whittling on a piece of wood.
An older man going into the store asked, " What do you think you're gonna make
out of that piece of wood?"
"Well, mister, " he said, " I haven't exactly thought about that."
" Well," the older man said, " but there must be something that you are trying
to create out of it."
"Oh, yes, it will come out to be something or another -- it always does.
But I just whittle away and ain't trying to make nothing in particular."
That is the story of many lives.
People do not know where they are going, but they are speeding on their way.
Many people will go wherever they have the strongest inclination.
Usually, when this is the case, they wake up some where in mid-life to find that they were
" Dropping buckets into empty wells
And growing old in drawing nothing up."
-- Cowper
Christians must know that life must be planned and that God will help us to make the right plan.
We are building not only for a few years on this earth but for all eternity.
"Isn't it strange that princes and kings,
And clowns that caper in sawdust rings,
And common folks like you and me,
Are builders for eternity?
To each is given a bag of tools,
A shapeless mass, and a book of rules,
And each must make, ere life is flown,
A stumbling-block or a stepping-stone."
-- R.L. Sharpe
The time comes in every person's life when he must decide whether it is more important for him
to have something or to be something.
Everyone must have a system of values in life by which the most important things are given
prominence in our thoughts and in our schedules.
Longfellow said, " Life is the gift of God and it is divine."
If this is true, the directions we take in life and the value we place all of our own lives are of primary importance.
Far too many people spend their time and energy merely in making a living.
The fruits of their labor become mere packages.
They will work all week for a paycheck.
Then, they trade it for groceries and jewelry and clothes.
Sometimes, they forget that what they are worth personally is much more important than
what their paycheck will buy.
Does this mean that Christians should not want to make money?
Of course not.
The world has need of Christians who have the ability to make money, but money must not
be an end in itself.
To use our money is to put a little more icing on our cakes is far from the Christian goal.
The test is how we use the money that we have.
It is not always the rich who misuse their money.
Some people of wealth are deeply spiritual and use their money for the glory of God.
At the same time some poor people waste what little they have and become possessed by
their few possessions.
Faithfulness in the use of one dollar is just as important as faithfulness in the use of one million dollars.
To make a life real we must find the place where we fit in best with what we have to offer.
All of our talents -- small or great can be used.
If they could not, God would not have given them to us.
So there is a place in this world where each of us may contribute his best.
Someone has said, " A few people make the world; the rest of us just come along and live in it."
As Christians we must not want to be parasites.
A very pretty young girl in entered a convent shortly before World War 1.
Twenty-eight years later, she asked to be released from her vows to return to the world,
for she had learned that she was unfitted for the life of a nun.
After her adjustment to a world that was strange to her, she wrote of her experiences
in a book called, I Leap Over The Wall.
In this book she says: "The important thing is that one should take reasonable means
to fit into the jigsaw puzzle of life in exactly the spot where God wants one.
If one drifts or forces oneself into a place for which one was not intended,
one not only spoils that particular bit of the picture but defeats the whole purpose in life
for which one was made." (Monica Baldwin)
The mother of the famous artist, Millet, gave to her son this bit of counsel:
" Go down and get the last day of your life and make it always your company keeper."
If we have the courage to do that, we may get a proper view of life which will help us to find our place.
A wise, old trainer, asked a young athlete for advice on winning races, said,
" Well, sir, the thing to do is to get out in front at the start and keep improving
your position from there on."
On our journey in life we can get out in front by choosing the right leader or boss,
one from whom we are willing to accept orders and one to whom we are willing to give our best.
If we are to make a life and live it for the glory of God, naturally, God should be our leader
and Lord and should direct our ways.
Early in life we picked out a model to imitate.
We try to follow this model, and make that model somewhat an authority for us.
And, unless we are careful to think through the various ideals that confront us,
we may go all the way through life obeying these early models or influences which
often prove inadequate.
On a tombstone in a cemetery in Chattanooga, Tennessee, there are these words,
" I came into the world without being consulted, I go out against my wish."
The man who is buried beneath this tombstone was a fine citizen and left a well-known
clubhouse as a monument to his own generosity and good human impulses,
but he had no faith in God and was confused about religious matters.
Untold good could have been accomplished by this influential man if somewhere in his early life
someone had led him to Christ and guided him into a life of Christian service.
Have you ever tried measuring something without a standard to go by?
We have rulers, yardsticks, surveyor's chains and long take measures for measuring material things.
But when it comes to living, as Christians, Christ is our standard.
We must never waste our time comparing ourselves with others.
We must check ourselves by the one divine standard which is Christ.
Jesus said, " I am the way, the truth, and the life." (John 14: 6)
Paul said in Romans 14:12: " Every one of us shall give account of himself to God."
If we are to give an account of our lives, and if we do have a " way" in Jesus,
then we must check ourselves while we are living to see if we are meeting the requirements.
We cannot make our life count unless we give ourselves in service.
We must learn to consider as small the things which are basically small.
Over and over we, as Christians, must ask ourselves, " Is this pattern of living in accord
with the principles and ideals of Jesus Christ?"
Every person as he lives each day must consider the outcome of his way of living.
Probably one reason why so many people forget to live while they are making a living is
that they look at the immediate recompense rather than the ultimate reward.
It is not dollars and cents or popularity or bigger and better positions that really matter.
The thoughtful person must ask what his plan of life will bring him in character, worth-while friends,
peace of mind, a sense of a a life well lived, and eternal rewards.
Years ago, I read the story of two brothers who went in business together when they were quite young.
Their success was remarkable.
But although they had thrown themselves wholeheartedly into their dry goods business,
they had neglected the more important matters of life.
They had ignored religion, spending all their time on business, family, and play.
One day the younger man died.
The older brother went to their store and selected the best suit of clothes, the finest shirt,
the prettiest tie, and the best pair of shoes, and carried them to the home of the deceased brother.
With thought and tears he took them to the bed on which his deceased brother lay.
As he threw these articles of clothing across the bed he said:
" Old pal, you've been a good partner in business and a good friend.
You have been a hard worker and have built up a good business, but this is all you get out of it."
Are we making a living or making a life?
Sermon based on a article of R. Lofton Hudson from 1951