Does Your Behavior Draw Others to Him?

Remember when you were a kid in school and you learned about magnets? One of the fun things was to put a bar magnet under a piece of paper and sprinkle iron filings. As you sprinkled the filings and shook the paper a bit, the magnetic fields became very evident as the filings were arranged around the ends of the magnet. When you look at the bar by itself, it looked like a plain piece of metal, but when you applied the iron filings, it became very apparent that it was a magnet.

There’s a lesson there related to our continued study in Titus. As we explore that lesson, let’s read those verses again. “Urge bondslaves to be subject to their own masters in everything, to be well-pleasing, not argumentative, not pilfering, but showing all good faith so that they will adorn the doctrine of God our Savior in every respect.”   Titus 2:9,10

As Pastor Tom dug into this passage, the instructions for all of us who have jobs of one sort or another became clear. The guidelines included:

*   Be submissive in everything.

*   Seek excellence in your job, because God is your inspector.

*   No talking back, be supportive in your talk and other communication and not argumentative.

*   No pilfering, and that goes for your time at work as much as it means taking home office supplies.

*   Be a trusted employee, showing all good faith to your employer through your actions.

Guidelines for believers in their work can be found in a number of places in Scripture. Take a moment to read a few we reviewed on Sunday.

“Were you called while a slave? Do not worry about it; but if you are able also to become free, rather do that. For he who was called in the Lord while a slave, is the Lord’s freedman; likewise he who was called while free, is Christ’s slave. You were bought with a price; do not become slaves of men. Brethren, each one is to remain with God in that condition in which he was called.”  1 Corinthians 7:21-24

“Whatever you do, do your work heartily, as for the Lord rather than for men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the reward of the inheritance it is the Lord Christ whom you serve.”  Colossians 3:23,24

“Submit yourselves for the Lord’s sake to every human institution, whether to a king as the one in authority, or to governors as send by him for the punishment of evildoers and the praise of those who do right.”  1 Peter 2:13,14

When you work, do you appear as just another person, like that bar of metal, or when put to the test, does the magnetism of your Christianity draw others to Him like iron filings to a magnet? Remember, your occupation is more than a job, it’s God’s way of providing for you through your employer. You’re placed there as a magnet for the Lord and to draw people to Him.