Approaching God with a "career" mindset

We often use the word “career” to refer to a long season of life devoted to a wage-earning job. There is a point when we enter the workforce, and then a point when we leave it, often referred to as our “career.” A career, then, is something for those who are “old enough” and yet also not “too old.” Sometimes, if we’re not careful, we can view our life with God in the same way. For those who are younger there can be a temptation to put off engaging their relationship with God seriously, thinking they will get around to that later when they’re “grown up.” For those who are older there can be a temptation to think that God no longer has a use for them, or that it is not as important to stay diligent in cultivating an active faith.

In Exodus 7:7 we have an intriguing detail that Moses was 80 and Aaron 83 when they entered the court of Pharaoh. Now, according to Psalm 90, penned by Moses, 80 is the age most people start thinking about dying, not setting off to rescue hundreds of thousands of slaves from an evil dictator and then taking them into the desert for 40 years while they’re being developed into a nation! Moses provides us a great example here that we should not approach our relationship with the Lord in the same way we approach a career. We never “retire” from walking with the Lord, and we’re never too young or too old to take our faith seriously. God uses any and every willing heart that is surrendered to him. May each of us remember and be encouraged that the Lord has a calling on our lives at any age and stage, and that no one is too young or too old to be used by him.