AIM:
That we may take seriously the need to proclaim our christian holiness by the nature of employment we choose, and by our means of entering into and operating it.

INTRODUCTION:
The economic recession is biting hard and jobs that pay well are scarce. Many people are desperate to get a steady means of livelihood. Therefore many Christians take just any employment that will earn them a living, not minding how the biblical Christian faith perceives such jobs. God expects us to carry our holiness to our places of work.

GOD ON HOLINESS

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• God is holy (Isaiah 6:3).

• God commands His people to be holy as He is (1 Peter 1:15).

• God demands that we make a distinction between what is holy and what is not (Leviticus 10:10; Ezekiel 22:26).

• Without holiness, no one will see God (Hebrews 12:14).

• Our practice of holiness should not be compartmentalized. Rather, it should affect every area of our lives, including our vocation (1
  Thessalonians 4:7; 1 Peter 1:15).

HOLINESS AND HOW WE GET OUR JOB

Our holiness in the work place must be reflected in the means and method by which we get our job. If we really care to please God and enjoy His favour, we should be guided by the following questions about how we get our job:

• Did I present fake documents, e. g. certificate; state of origin; etc?

• Did I present false information, e. g. about my place of birth;

• Did I give a bribe in any of its numerous forms?

• Did I agree to join any fraternity that demands secret initiation ceremony or to swear an oath of secrecy or to attend meetings after midnight?

• Did I have to submit my body for fornication or adultery?

HOLINESS AND THE NATURE OF OUR JOB

If we would be holy as our Heavenly Father says we should, our holiness will determine the nature of our means of livelihood. The Bible says that Christ died for us so that we will LIVE FOR HIM, and no longer live for our self-interest alone (2 corinthians 5:15). For the same reason, the Bible commands us Christians to do everything, including what we do to earn a living, to the glory of God (1 Corinthians 10:31).

To test yourself honestly, ask the following questions about your means of livelihood:

• Does the end product glorify God?

• Does my job or trade directly or indirectly promote or damage other people's health and general well-being?

• Does my employment or trade add to or subtract from human dignity?

• Is my job or trade completely legal? Do I break any moral law in the process?

• Do I confidently and with a clear conscience announce the nature of my job, trade or business to godly people, including the pastor of my church?

• If the Lord Jesus were here in the flesh, can I confidently invite Him (Jesus) to patronize my business, trade or services? Will He?

• As I prepare to face God at the end of my life journey, will be able to say, "God, I have glorified you through the job or employment or trade to which I have spent my life and resources over which you made me your steward"?

Apply the questions above to employment and businesses, including the following:

• Brewery of alcoholic beverages, and its supporting services.

• Tobacco business and its supporting services.

• Lottery business a form of legalized gambling in which people seek to reap where they do not sow.

• Human trafficking.

• Addictive drugs and other substances.

• Any job or business concerning which those who engage in it would not publish the whole truth about it, or else the business would collapse!

• A job and business that is faultless in itself; but I will be ashamed as a Christian if certain details are published about the way I personally operate it.

• Smuggling

THE PLACE OF FAITH IN HOLY LIVING

• When one is making "good" money from an unholy enterprise, it takes faith to give it up, believing that "bread obtained by falsehood is sweet to a man, but afterward his mouth will be filled with gravel" (Proverbs 20:17).

• It takes faith to prioritize the pursuit of biblical righteousness above everything else, and still believe that you will lose nothing of significance in the end (Matthew 6:33).

• It takes faith to believe that a man's life is not sustained by bread alone, but by obeying "every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God" (Matthew 4:4).

• It takes faith to rely on God to open for us a better door when we choose to close one because we are convinced that it is unholy (Revelation 3:7).

• It takes faith to believe that if we honour God by rejecting a lucrative source of income because it is unholy, God in turn will honour and promote us (1 Samuel 2:30b).

MEMORY VERSE: Matthew 16:26

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