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Vocation vs Vacation


So I am in my first week of training and working for a living isn't for cowards. It is especially taxing to start a new job and learn something from an entry level when you've been in a near vegetative state as a couch potato for several years. Darn! I was just getting the hang of doing nothing while ignoring my swollen guilt glands.

I actually enjoy learning but I am thinking it will all be better when I am being productive. I remember talking to students about the doctrine of vocation. Most had never considered such a thing. We get messages all the time about what to do with our money but we seldom hear a sermon on what it means to work or how to pick a vocation in order to earn it.

It used to be that people had one vocation most of their lives. They apprenticed, they were journeymen and then they were masters. There were standards and achievements that had to be met in order to progress. Now we have serial careers. Folks on average change their field of work every seven years. We also have the "Peter Principle." In a nutshell that means that people rise to the level of their incompetence. Would those classifications be, idiot, moron and non compos mentis? Or supervisor, manager and vice president? Hmm... can you imagine, "Whatever you do in word or deed, do it to the level at which you become incompetent." Good thing the Bible is inspired by God and not us.

I am cracking myself up and have more thoughts on my new job and vocations but I also have a pressing need to sleep. Perhaps this weekend I will write about work.... or whatever else catches my fancy and makes me ramble on. Right now I need sleep. I can't seem to concentr.... oh! look, something shiny! Ooops, sorry!...... uh..... was I finished??

Proverbs 27:23-27

23 Know well the condition of your flocks, {and} pay attention to your herds;24 For riches are not forever, nor does a crown {endure} to all generations.25 {When} the grass disappears, the new growth is seen, and the herbs of the mountains are gathered in,26 The lambs {will be} for your clothing, and the goats {will bring} the price of a field,27 And {there will be} goats' milk enough for your food, for the food of your household, and sustenance for your maidens.

1Thessalonians 4:11-12
11 and to make it your ambition to lead a quiet life and attend to your own business and work with your hands, just as we commanded you;12 so that you may behave properly toward outsiders and not be in any need.(NAS)

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