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PROGRAM D-7919
Are you a producer or a consumer? The facts are that God created work, and everything he created was good. So is your attitude toward the work you do a positive joyful attitude or is it just a necessary toilsome thing you have to do?
God made us to be producers, not consumers. While the world’s message is that consuming brings fulfillment and happiness, the truth is that producing is the thing that gives us purpose and meaning. If our purpose for working is in order to enable us to consume, we’ve missed the real satisfaction of work.
Quite honestly, most of the people we work with or know are working in order to consume. The more money they can make, the more “stuff” they can buy. They truly believe that all that “stuff” is going to bring lasting satisfaction and fulfillment. But the enjoyment it brings is temporary; it doesn’t last very long, and it is never enough.
How many times have you wanted something very much, and you finally were able to buy it? Maybe it was just a new pair of shoes, or maybe it was a real nice expensive car. How long did the glow last? How long before that good feeling it gave you when you put those shoes on or drove that car seemed to just evaporate? Then what do you do to feel good? Most people try to get more “stuff” so they can experience that good feeling again. Consuming is an endless and futile search that never delivers and can become a real addiction.
We are at our happiest when we are producing, not when we are consuming. Life is most fulfilling when we are making things, doing things—working. That’s because working is part of God’s design for our lives; we are created to work.
As a Christ-follower, you have the incredible privilege of working together with God, both in sharing the Gospel and in your daily work. Your job is—or should be—part of God’s calling on your life. It’s not your ability to consume more and more that brings satisfaction. It is the way you are able to give and make a difference through your work.
So, if you’ve been in consumer-mode lately—or maybe for a long time—I urge you to do yourself a huge favor and ask God to change your attitude from consuming to producing—producing good work that brings glory to God and good to others.