MAN UP BIBLE SERIES Men Who Matter Lesson One

The Real World What is this life really all about? We all want to be Men who Matter. This life has to count for something. We pretend that it doesn’t matter or that everything is fine, but the reality is that we do care and everything is not fine. Our lives are filled with distress and discomfort about real life issues. So this series is not about finding pat answers to life’s really hard questions. It is about finding that God is there each step of the way and that we can be Men Who Matter. Sadly we have all discovered that chasing after the things this world says will give us true contentment and satisfaction in the end bring us nothing. Look at the book of Ecclesiastes and you will see that Solomon, the wisest man in the world, found nothing in this world that brings him the satisfaction that God wants for each of us. So lets take a journey together and discover what God has in store for Men Who Matter. Our first stop in this journey will be our job… what we do to make a living..

The Real Word Ecclesiastes 2:17-26 New International Version (NIV) Toil Is Meaningless 17 So I hated life, because the work that is done under the sun was grievous to me. All of it is meaningless, a chasing after the wind. 18 I hated all the things I had toiled for under the sun, because I must leave them to the one who comes after me. 19 And who knows whether that person will be wise or foolish? Yet they will have control over all the fruit of my toil into which I have poured my effort and skill under the sun. This too is meaningless. 20 So my heart began to despair over all my toilsome labor under the sun. 21 For a person may labor with wisdom, knowledge and skill, and then they must leave all they own to another who has not toiled for it. This too is meaningless and a great misfortune. 22 What do people get for all the toil and anxious striving with which they labor under the sun? 23 All their days their work is grief and pain; even at night their minds do not rest. This too is meaningless. 24 A person can do nothing better than to eat and drink and find satisfaction in their own toil. This too, I see, is from the hand of God, 25 for without him, who can eat or find enjoyment? 26 To the person who pleases him, God gives wisdom, knowledge and happiness, but to the sinner he gives the task of gathering and storing up wealth to hand it over to the one who pleases God. This too is meaningless, a chasing after the wind.

Real Talk Which list is longer? Your Like or Dislikes with your job? What’s the driving motivation for your work? Has it changed over the years? Are you doing your dream job?

Real Steps The Purpose Of Work 1.To make a living - 2 Thess.3:12 “Now such persons we command and exhort in the Lord Jesus Christ to do their work in quietness and to earn their own living.” 2. To provide for our household- Proverbs 31:27 “She looks well to the ways of her household, and does not eat the bread of idleness.” 3. To bless others Ephesians 4:28 “Let the thief no longer steal, but rather let him labor, doing honest work with his hands, so that he may be able to give to those in need.” 4. To Increase in wealth- Proverbs 13:11 “Wealth hastily gotten will dwindle, but he who gathers little by little will increase it.” These ordinary looking reasons for working are God’s Commands! There is nothing super spiritual about it. It is just the Christian way to live!

Time to Close I close with a story about our work and the right attitude towards it: “ A young man is walking down the road and encounters a man who is fiercely pounding away at a stone with his hammer and chisel. The young man asked what he was doing. The angry response from the worker, “I’m trying to shape this stone and it is backbreaking work.” He went further down the road and saw a man that looked bored as he worked away at his stone. The young man asked him what he was doing. The worker responded,” I am shaping a stone for a building.” A little further down the road he encounters a man who is happy and singing a tune as he chips away at his stone. When asked what he was doing the response was, “ I AM BUILDING A CATHEDRAL!” So tomorrow when you get up to go to work, your attitude can make all the difference in your outlook. Are you Pounding rocks or building cathedrals? It is all up to You! Time to MAN UP!”