What Are Your Ultimate Goals?
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.
1 Corinthians 3:8-9, 14-15, 18-19 NIV “The one who plants and the one who waters have one purpose, and they will each be rewarded according to their own labor. For we are co-workers in God’s service; you are God’s field, God’s building. If what has been built survives, the builder will receive a reward. If it is burned up, the builder will suffer loss but yet will be saved—even though only as one escaping through the flames. Do not deceive yourselves. If any of you think you are wise by the standards of this age, you should become “fools” so that you may become wise. For the wisdom of this world is foolishness in God’s sight. As it is written: “He catches the wise in their craftiness”;” https://bible.com/bible/111/1co.3.9-19.NIV
The Great Commission is the mission of every Christian. This is the work of identifying ourselves with Jesus in order to share the work of Jesus so that men might be reconciled to God through Jesus. Those who hear our message and repent from their sinful ways, turning to God in Jesus as Savior and Lord, we are to then disciple by teaching them to obey everything Jesus has commanded.
This is why we remain on earth, apart from our Savior in the flesh but not in the Spirit. The degree to which we work, the fruit of our labor for God, will be measured by God to be rewarded by Him on the day Christians are judged not for salvation but for their eternal reward. Most work so hard to be successful on earth while ignoring the work of God to become successful in heaven and upon the new earth. We wish to appear wise as the pagans who reject God and have only this world to enjoy. We engage their same purpose and pleasures instead of praying for their souls, sharing the urgency of repentance, and living free from the accumulation of the things of this world that are destined to burn.
We must live as though our eternal lives depended upon obeying God and completing His assignment for us. Because they do! We must believe God’s words to us recorded in the Scripture and not the doubts of the pagans who malign, ignore, and disobey God’s words because they find Him irrelevant and non-existent. Every person needs Jesus to be reconciled to God and escape the fires of hell. Every person needs Jesus to live forever with God in joy, peace, love, and abundance, alongside Him and all those who have ever loved Him, on the new earth where Jesus reigns in righteousness and justice.
Our purpose is to help all people become reconciled to God. Their eternity is at stake, and our reward for the quality of our eternal living is on the line. Why would we choose to be poor forever when God is inviting us into the fullness of His riches in His world without end?
Our Opportunities
- Join CBMC men for prayer and Bible study every Friday from 8-9 am at Panera Frandor.
- Do you enjoy these weekly devotionals? You can listen to them daily on your favorite podcast player. The know God coach huddle is a 2-3 minute review of God’s word for application in your life. Subscribe today wherever you listen to podcasts.
CBMC Central Michigan 4407 W. St. Joe Hwy. Lansing 48917 / 517 481 5996 www.lansing.cbmc.com
MONDAY MANNA
A service to the business community
A Publication of CBMC International
June 16, 2025
What Are Your Ultimate Goals?
By Robert J. Tamasy
As business and professional people, what we do is governed at least in part by goals: Sales or productivity goals; daily goals; project goals; financial goals; career goals. You could probably add to the list. But have you ever thought in terms of life goals, the ultimate goal for your life?
Recently I viewed a brief video in which a pastor described a meeting with a businessman in his congregation. The businessman planned to leave the church because the pastor had offended him by something said in his sermon. The pastor asked about what had seemed so offensive.
The businessman recalled the pastor had commented it was unwise for someone to strive to make as much money as possible, then move to a popular retirement area and spend the rest of his life playing golf. The businessman was offended because that was what he intended to do – as soon as possible.
In response, the pastor suggested the businessman was trivializing his life, devoting the rest of his life to chasing a ball around a golf course instead of using his God-given gifts and experience to be an influence on people. He said, “When you give your life to Jesus Christ, He calls you to be an influencer – to use your power, abilities and talents to influence the world around you for good, making it a better place.”
Too often we spend our work hours eagerly awaiting the weekend. We spend our careers anxiously anticipating retirement so we can ‘finally do what I want to do.’ Have you ever considered that what you do at work, where you are currently doing it, is precisely what God wants you to do?
The entire Bible mentions retirement only once. In the Old Testament book of Numbers it says of the Levites, the ceremonial priests of Israel, “at the age of fifty, they must retire from their regular service and work no longer. They may assist their brothers in performing their duties at the Tent of Meeting, but they themselves must not do the work” (Numbers 8:25-26). God had a succession plan for the priests who performed the ritual sacrifices, but even then, the “retired” priests were to continue assisting those who had taken their place.
We all are unique, having different interests, skills, life experiences, and for followers of Jesus Christ, spiritual gifts that God intends for us to use for His divine purposes. As Colossians 3:23-24 states so clearly, “Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving.”
There are times for rest and relaxation, as we have discussed in past editions of Monday Manna. But having a life goal of working only long enough to amass enough resources to be able to withdraw from the world and engage all our waking hours in activities of no eternal impact makes little sense.
In His so-called “Sermon on the Mount,” Jesus spoke of focusing on things that will last for eternity: “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal” (Matthew 6:19-20). Golf, or whatever pastime we choose, may be enjoyable, but we are unlikely to find much treasure there that will last for eternity.
© 2025. Robert J. Tamasy has written Marketplace Ambassadors: CBMC’s Continuing Legacy of Evangelism and Discipleship; Business at Its Best: Timeless Wisdom from Proverbs for Today’s Workplace; Pursuing Life With a Shepherd’s Heart, coauthored with Ken Johnson; and The Heart of Mentoring, coauthored with David A. Stoddard. Bob’s biweekly blog is: www.bobtamasy.blogspot.com.
MONDAY MANNA
A service to the business community
A Publication of CBMC International
June 16, 2025
Reflection/Discussion Questions
- Can you identify with the businessman who is striving to earn as much money as possible so he can retreat to a nice retirement area and spend the rest of his life pursuing his favorite hobby? Explain your answer.
- Do you believe the talents, skills, and abilities you have ultimately were given to you by God, meaning you are responsible for faithfully stewarding them for God’s glory? Why or why not?
- Assuming you do believe that what you bring to the workplace – including spiritual gifts and experience accumulated over years in the marketplace – ultimately have been entrusted to you by God, how should that affect your approach to your job every day?
- Jesus spoke about “laying up treasures in heaven” rather than “treasures on earth.” What do you think He meant? What do you think this looks like, practically speaking?
NOTE: If you have a Bible and would like to read more, consider the following passages: Matthew 25:14-30; Romans 12;11; 1 Corinthians 10:31; Ephesians 6:7; Colossians 3:17
Challenge for This Week
When you wake up each day and prepare to go to work, does the idea that “whatever you do, do your work as for the Lord” ever come to your mind? If so, how does this affect your attitude and approach to what you will be doing?
Try to find some time this week to discuss this with a close friend, trusted advisor, mentor, or accountability group to get their input into what this means in a practical sense. If you admit you have been like the businessman who intends to devote his retirement years to what might be considered ‘trivial pursuits,’ share with them your thoughts based on what you have read in this week’s Monday Manna.
CBMC Central Michigan 4407 W. St. Joe Hwy. Lansing 48917 / 517 481 5996 lansing.cbmc.com