Vocation: A strong feeling of suitability for a particular career or occupation. In other words, “My calling.”

 

Genesis 1:26–28 (NLT)
Then God said, “Let us make human beings in our image, to be like us. They will reign over the fish in the sea, the birds in the sky, the livestock, all the wild animals on the earth, and the small animals that scurry along the ground.”
So God created human beings in his own image. In the image of God, he created them; male and female, he created them.
Then God blessed them and said, “Be fruitful and multiply. Fill the earth and govern it. Reign over the fish in the sea, the birds in the sky, and all the animals that scurry along the ground.”

 

Genesis 2:15 (NLT)
The Lord God placed the man in the Garden of Eden to tend [cultivate, grow, expand] and watch over [keep, guard, protect] it.

 

Identity: Created in the Image of God and created to be in relationship with God.

 

John 17:20–21 (NLT)
I am praying not only for these disciples but also for all who will ever believe in me through their message. I pray that they will all be one, just as you and I are one—as you are in me, Father, and I am in you. And may they be in us so that the world will believe you sent me.

 

Purpose: (1) Multiply via family, (2) subdue the earth by governing and reigning over it, and (3) expand the Garden by cultivating and guarding it from the enemy.

 

Genesis 3:16–19 (NLT)
Then he said to the woman, “I will sharpen the pain of your pregnancy, and in pain you will give birth. And you will desire to control your husband, but he will rule over you.”
And to the man, he said, “Since you listened to your wife and ate from the tree whose fruit I commanded you not to eat, the ground is cursed because of you. All your life, you will struggle to scratch a living from it. It will grow thorns and thistles for you, though you will eat of its grains. By the sweat of your brow will you have food to eat until you return to the ground from which you were made. For you were made from dust, and to dust you will return.”

 

Galatians 3:13 (NLT)
But Christ has rescued us from the curse pronounced by the law. When he was hung on the cross, he took upon himself the curse for our wrongdoing. For it is written in the Scriptures, “Cursed is everyone who is hung on a tree.”

 

1. I am who I am in Christ, and I do what I do through Christ.

2. Family, being fruitful and multiplying, is the foundation of our divine vocation.

Proverbs 10:4 (NLT)
Lazy people are soon poor; hard workers get rich.

 

Proverbs 12:24 (NLT)
Work hard and become a leader; be lazy and become a slave.

 

Proverbs 14:23 (NLT)
Work brings profit, but mere talk leads to poverty!

 

Proverbs 21:5 (NLT)
Good planning and hard work lead to prosperity, but hasty shortcuts lead to poverty.

 

Matthew 6:21 (NLT)
Wherever your treasure is, there the desires of your heart will also be.

 

3. Be passionate about the why of your employment to fulfill your vocation.

Matthew 6:9–10 (NLT)
Pray like this: “Our Father in heaven, may your name be kept holy.  May your Kingdom come soon. May your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. …”

 

Matthew 22:37–39 (NLT)
You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. A second is equally important: “Love your neighbor as yourself.”

 

Matthew 28:19 (NLT)
Therefore, go and make disciples of all the [peoples], baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit.

 

4. As we actively love others, we expand God’s Kingdom. This is our highest vocation and purpose.