1 Colossians 1:1

Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, and Timotheus our brother,

Our own desires for life can often lead to internal disappointment when we neglect to follow the will of God. Many of us enjoy sports and therein have dreams of becoming a professional athlete. Often times, our decision is not rooted in a love for the sport, but motivated by a desire to get paid financially and in popularity. Paul in his epistle to the Colossians began by identifying himself as an apostle of Christ by the will of Christ. What a powerful introduction! He did not decide to become an apostle one morning because it was the thing to do. He was divinely willed into the service for Christ. But for the direction of God, a person of the character of Paul would never have considered turning a 180 to follow Jesus from a life of torturing followers of Christ. There was no great financial windfall or celebrity status attached to working for Christ. In fact, quite the opposite befell the apostles. They were far from wealthy and were threatened with their life as soon as they entered into a city. Before we decide our position in service, we should ask God to lead us into His will. Prayerfully, we should continually seek His guidance for abiding in this will. Not all open doors are entries created by God. For example, assume we are blessed with stable and dependable employment, but offered with the prospect of a new venture with a doubled salary. Society says the decision is a “no brainer” because who in his right mind would leave that kind of money on the table? The Bible teaches we should pray about all matters and employment is included. What if I told you the job offer came from a company by the name of “Enron”? Seek God’s will!