06 What You Were Born to Do
September 6
I like to think of Nehemiah’s cupbearer job as his preliminary occupation, or his “pre-occupation,” because he was born to fulfill another, much more important role. Your true work is what you were born to do. Your job is what you do only until you are ready to fulfill your vision. God had placed in Nehemiah’s heart a vision of rebuilding the wall: “I had not [yet] told anyone what my God had put in my heart to do for Jerusalem” (Nehemiah 2:12).
Nehemiah 2:1 reads, “In the month of Nisan in the twentieth year of King Artaxerxes, when wine was brought for him, I took the wine and gave it to the king. I had not been sad in his presence before.” It appears that Nehemiah was doing fine on his job until he heard about the wall. Then he had the idea to rebuild it. His desire to accomplish his life’s work began to interfere with his job. The king said to him, “Why does your face look so sad when you are not ill? This can be nothing but sadness of heart” (v. 2).
When God gives you a vision and confirms it, nothing can stop it. If He tells you to build, start, invest, create, or manufacture something, then it will bother you deep inside;
you will be dissatisfied until you do it. Is your true work—your purpose—making it uncomfortable for you to stay in your present job? That was Nehemiah’s situation. Nehemiah saw the wall completed in his mind’s eye before he started to work on it, and that vision drove his passion.
Prayer: Father, I was born to love and serve You.,Help me to serve You according to my true purpose. In Jesus’ name, amen.
Thought: Your true work is what you were born to do.
Reading: Psalm 148–150; 1 Corinthians 15:29–58