A Suggested Goal For The New Year
Our Mission
To present Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord to business and professional men and to develop Christian business and professional men to carry out the Great Commission.
Matthew 6.33 commands, above all pursue His kingdom and righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.
God does want more from us than mere acknowledgement of His existence. He promises us eternity and then tells us to prepare for that existence by storing up eternal treasure. Presumably that treasure will be either necessary or a determinant for our quality of life to come. This is not dissimilar from investment brokers pleading with us to invest today so that we have something to live on tomorrow when we are no longer able to work but must subsist on what we saved.
God wants His kingdom and His character to be our first priority. He warns us that the competition for obedience to His command is the focused pursuit on accumulating money in order to be successful on earth. God warns us that we cannot serve money and God. We certainly try. We really want pleasure, comfort and opportunities unlimited which is why we pursue money. Its not that we want money but we want what money can buy. We are missing the point of our existence however when we get lost in the pursuit of personal gain. That kind of living makes life all about us.
The life we were created to live is to be all about God. Specifically, we are on a mission to build His Kingdom until He returns to claim His role as King on earth as He is in heaven. Why else has He left us here? Why has He not swept us to heaven the moment we looked up and cried to God, Father save me? As He came to seek and save the lost so too He has commissioned His children to go into the world as His witnesses to make disciples, that is, people adamant about obedience to all of Jesus’ commands. Those who claim to know God must live as Jesus lived. Jesus lived the exemplary life His people were to follow.
What did His life look like? Daily communion with God through prayer and the Scriptures and daily communion with humanity serving and teaching them to have faith in God Who loves them. This can and should be done at every level of vocation since people live without a shepherd at every level of income. Vocation positions us to fulfill our occupation which is the knowing of God deeply so that we can serve Him most effectively. Whether we work on wall street or in some back street, people need people who love God and will serve them then teach them that God loves them and desires a relationship with them.
This is the true work of the Christian and is the practical way we pursue His Kingdom and His righteousness wherever we are.
His Opportunities
-
2017’s first special luncheon is scheduled for February 9th. Mark your calendars and watch for registration information to follow. Our speaker will be Hope College football coach and 9 year veteran of the Detroit Lions Tony Semple. Our venue will be new: Eagle Eye Golf Course.
Mark your calendar now and begin praying for men you will bring to this strategic event.
- Tuesday, January 17th at the City Rescue Mission from noon until 1pm is your next CBMC Rescue Luncheon. This is your opportunity to serve lunch to the men and women who depend upon the Mission for their meal. Commit Here
MONDAY MANNA
A service to the business community
A Publication of CBMC International
January 9, 2016
A Suggested Goal For The New Year
by Robert J. Tamasy
The Christmas celebrations are over, New Year’s Eve is next on the schedule, and then we are fully locked into the new year. In anticipation of moving into a new calendar year, many of us are also engaged in the annual practice of making resolutions or setting goals.
These can range from stopping bad habits and starting good ones, to assessing the past year and determining new goals for the next 12 months.
Experts in planning tell us goals should have at least three common characteristics: They should be specific, they should be measurable, and they should be attainable. “I intend to do better” is none of the three, since it is vague, has no means for evaluating whether and when it is achieved, and “better” can always be a moving, frustrating target.
Let me suggest a goal many of us could pursue, although its implementation would depend on our unique workplace circumstances. Here is the goal, borrowed from Heath Eslinger, head wrestling coach at the University of Tennessee-Chattanooga:
“The goal of every leader should be life transformation. Great outcomes are the result of great people. Be in the business of people.”
This is a goal we all could embrace, regardless of our levels of responsibility. Yes, we need to pursue profits. We also should demand to provide quality products and services. If we are to stay in business, excellent customer service is a non-negotiable. But we find people at the heart of each of those objectives. As has been said many times, “You win with people.”
We repeatedly find this principle in the Bible, in both the Old and New Testaments, applied to people whose goals and desires aligned with God’s. Israel’s King David serves as a good example:
People having the right heart. In choosing a king of Israel to succeed King Saul, God did not choose an individual that simply passed the “look test.” Instead, He selected a young man who was right on the inside. “After removing Saul, he made David their king. God testified concerning him, ‘I have found David son of Jesse, a man after my own heart; he will do everything I want him to do’” (Acts 13:22).
People having the right spirit. After falling into grievous sin, David did not seek to deny, ignore or cover up his failings. Instead, he asked God to forgive him and restore their relationship. “Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me…. Restore to me the joy of your salvation and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me” (Psalm 51:10-12).
People having the right attitude. David exhibited a humble, teachable spirit that the apostle Peter also described. “Young men…be submissive to those who are older. All of you, clothes yourselves with humility toward one another, because ‘God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.’ Humble yourselves, therefore, under God’s mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time” (1 Peter 5:5-6).
© 2016. Robert J. Tamasy is vice president of communications for Leaders Legacy, Inc., a non-profit based in Atlanta, Georgia, U.S.A. Bob has written Business At Its Best: Timeless Wisdom from Proverbs for Today’s Workplace; Tufting Legacies; and coauthored with David A. Stoddard, The Heart of Mentoring. His biweekly blog is: www.bobtamasy.blogspot.com.
Click here for the PDF:
