And the Lord said to Moses, See, I have called by name Bezalel son of Uri, the son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah. And I have filled him with the Spirit of God, in wisdom and ability, in understanding and intelligence, and in knowledge, and in all kinds of craftsmanship… – Exodus 31:1-3, Amplified Bible (AMP)

When I was growing up, I attended a small church in Georgia. I don’t recall if the folks at the church ever told me this specifically, but I grew up thinking that the only way I could 100% serve God was to be a pastor or a missionary. I struggled with that for many years, for I wanted to serve God, but I did not have any calling to be a pastor or a missionary.

Years later I learned that God has designed us all for specific types of work, and He does create some with the skills, abilities, and passions to serve Him as pastors and missionaries. But such positions aren’t the only ones that qualify for “full-time” Christian service. As a matter of fact, Christians are to give God 100% in whatever vocation they find themselves in. The key is to make sure we find ourselves in the type of vocation that God has designed us for, and not some vocation we chose solely on the basis of making money. We will excel for His glory only in the type of work we were designed for, so we should endeavor to seek out and to dive into that type of work, regardless of whether it makes us rich (which may be God’s plan for us) or not.

Take Bezalel. Bezalel wasn’t a prophet. Bezalel wasn’t a pastor. He wasn’t a missionary or a priest or king. He was a craftsman, and he, along with his colleagues Aholiab and Dan, had one of the most fantastic honors in all of Scripture: to build the tabernacle that would house the Creator of the universe. As Exodus 31:1-11 teaches us, God designed these men with the skills, abilities, knowledge, and passions to accomplish His great work, and no pastor, missionary, or priest could accomplish their work in their place.

God gave us all certain gifts to accomplish certain works for His glory. We’ll never be completely fulfilled until we: 1) discover what God created us for, and then, 2) obediently follow His lead into the work He has prepared for us. If you are unsure of what your gifts and your call are, then search for them in the scriptures, look for them in prayer, and dig for them through career consultation models such as Career Direct.* If you know what your gifts and call are – but you have laid them aside to pursue your own way – it’s time to reverse course, dust off God’s unused gifts, and diligently pursue the work that God has given you to do.

* For more information about Career Direct, please visit www.careercallings.net/discover or contact Robbie Romeiser, Founder and Author of TodaysQuoteFromGod.com and host of the Career Callings Radio Show, at robbie@careercallings.net. Robbie is a licensed consultant with Career Direct and is available to conduct consultations with people around the world via Skype.

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