Are you wasting your life?

That is a question that I've come in contact with lately. Well it's not always that explicit but that is the question that lies just below the surface. Guys and gals, men and women who want their life to count...to not be wasted. They work at nice jobs but at the end of the day wonder if they are making any difference for God. Some even say they are considering quitting work to move overseas to be in "full-time" Christian ministry.

I identify because that was my story. I was a salesman in the computer industry for 7 years before I quit my job, went to seminary and entered into vocational ministry. But now that I am removed from the regular workforce I have noticed the detriments of becoming a "man of the cloth." So I want to encourage my brothers and sisters whom struggle with this question that impact is not described in terms of vocation or geography but in terms of perspective and attitude.

I was recently was flipping through John Piper's handy book, "Don't Waste Your Life", and came across a helpful list of how to bring a ministry-mindset to your job. The list is pulled from chapter 8 "Making Much of Christ from 8 to 5." May his thoughts encourage you in your daily toil.

We can make much of Christ in our secular job...
1. Through the fellowship that we enjoy with Him throughout the day in all our work.
2. By the joyful, trusting, God-exalting design of our creativity and industry.
3. When it confirms and enhances the portrait of Christ's glory that people hear in the spoken Gospel.
4. By earning enough money to keep us from depending on others, while focusing on the helpfulness of our work rather than financial rewards.
5. By earning money with the desire to use our money to make others glad in God.
6. By treating the web of relationships it creates as a gift of God to be loved by sharing the Gospel and by practical deeds of help.