I was pretty good at business early in life. I was also a saver and generous. My mom didn’t really understand why I would leave a career that started with IBM and continued in my own IT company for a job in the church as a pastor. Later in life she figured it out and I think saw the value. I often smile because of the great joy I find in doing what I do (as both a pastor and attorney). I whisper to myself, Wow! I get paid to do this! Some may wonder if pastors and attorneys should get paid. Did you know that most pastors in Europe (except for the ‘free churches’) get paid by the City Council of their town? Well, the apostle Paul answered the question for pastors in a letter to the church in Corinth. My dream one day is to work as a paid lawyer and a free pastor. One day… not quite today.
My defense to those who examine me is this: Do we not have a right to eat and drink? Do we not have a right to take along a believing wife, even as the rest of the apostles and the brothers of the Lord, and Cephas? Or do only Barnabas and I have no right to refrain from working? Who at any time serves as a soldier at his own expense? Who plants a vineyard and does not eat its fruit? Or who tends a flock and does not consume some of the milk of the flock?
I am not just asserting these things according to human judgment, am I? Or does the Law not say these things as well? For it is written in the Law of Moses: “You shall not muzzle the ox while it is threshing.” God is not concerned about oxen, is He? I Corinthians 9:3-9 NASB
How wonderfully has God always provided for me, my wife, and our family? How often have I thanked Him? Does His generosity toward me flow through me to others?
God, as this day begins- I look forward to fulfilling all You have planned. May I walk in grace, truth and love. May I bless those I encounter. May my smile be known to all (even with my missing tooth- LOL). What a calling! What a life! I can’t believe I get to do what I love.
