Your job—
Where will you work through young adulthood? Most people get some small job in high school that causes them to face a lot of life-shaping questions. Will you work on Sundays? So many young adults get so infatuated with getting their first few paychecks that they will kiss Sunday church goodbye for the first minimum wage offer that comes along. They love the sound of being able to say “I have to work.” There’s something very adult-ish about that.
How much is God worth to you? You’ll find out when you get your first job. I’ve seen dozens of teens set God aside for a few bucks with seemingly no thought of it. I’ve seen hundreds of others take their stand for God, and God always meets their needs—always—usually with better jobs! In the process, their faith grows, and a solid foundation of faith for future decisions begins to form.
So, if you don’t have a job, before you get your job, even if you have a job now, choose now to stay in church regardless. Starter jobs are easy to find. Good workers are hard to find, and God will provide better for you than you will for yourself. Keep Him first, and watch Him work it out. If you have a job now that requires you to miss Sunday church, talk to your manager, get your parent’s and pastor’s advice, and even consider putting in your notice if you have to. Put God to the test, and let Him prove Himself to you. Stepping out in faith is easier now than it will ever be, and you’ll need the valuable foundation of faith for bigger decisions in your future. In other words, learn to trust God with $6.50 an hour, and it will be easier to trust Him with $80,000 a year, when your kids will be watching you.
People who refuse to trust God when they are young never develop the foundation of faith that they need when bigger storms and harder tests come their way. Remember David and Goliath? David trusted God with the bear and the lion, which made it easier for him to trust God with Goliath. The same principle will work for you.
You’ve got to realize that you need church! It’s God’s ordained institution for meeting your spiritual needs. You cannot be right with Him if you are not faithful to a Bible-believing, Independent Baptist church. It’s simple, and it’s in the Bible. Hebrews 10:25 says, “Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching.” What happens at church is what will keep you spiritually healthy and growing. You need church as much as you need your next meal—and a lot more than you need a paycheck.
On your job, will you stand for right? Will you laugh at dirty jokes and accept invitations to wild parties? Will you be a credible testimony for Christ, or will you quietly hide your Christianity for the myth of acceptance? What will you do for money? What will you do with your money? These values and more start coming into focus with the starting of your first job and will determine a wide variety of details about your adult life.
