ICS Daily Devotions
Having Ambition and Serving God
How are believers to balance career ambition with a concurrent desire to serve God?
There should be no conflict between a desire to excel in the workplace and to serve God. The pre-requisite is to live a surrendered life under the Lordship of Christ, and to have both a right perspective towards life and the ability to fulfill different roles.
The first pre-requisite is the Lordship of Christ. Many people are very happy to have Jesus as their Savior and the assurance of spending eternity in heaven. They want a guaranteed ticket to heaven without being accountable to God. They reject the Lordship of Christ where He has a major say in what they do and how they live their lives, and refuse to be controlled or restricted in what they perceive to be their own freedom of choice.
Galatians 2:20 (NKJV) I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.
Living by faith in the Son of God includes believing that He has a good plan and purpose for our lives. If God has given us the most precious gift possible in the form of His One and Only Son, then He will not withhold any good thing from us. It would include the ability and favor to do well in our career. However, we need to glorify Him with our testimony, by not compromising with the world even as we work towards actualizing the ambition in our hearts.
A mature believer will want to make his life count for the Lord, if he fully understands that he has been redeemed by the blood of Jesus Christ. He would be grateful for the sacrifice that Jesus made for him and with eternity in perspective, desire to live for the Lord. Once we understand this, we would want to live a consecrated life, which is surrendered and prayerful. It is not “my will be done”, but “the Lord’s will be done”. We want to do what the Lord has planned for us.
God will position us according to our gifts and callings. All of us have been created with different talents and gifts and have different life experiences which God will use for His glory. There is absolutely no conflict between living out a consecrated life and excelling in the workplace.
Proverbs 16:9 (NKJV) A man’s heart plans his way, but the Lord directs his steps.
Not everyone allows God to direct their steps because they still want to be the master of their own destiny. Once we have acknowledged the Lordship of Christ, we should commit our ambitions, goals and plans to Him, they must not become an idol or a god in our lives. He will honor our desire to live a consecrated life and direct our steps.
Sermon Series: Pastor, I Have Questions for You (Part 2)
