Devotion - Thursday, October 22

When asked what I do for a living, I often respond, "I drink coffee."  Those coffee visits are firmly rooted in the Sunday morning or Wednesday evening sacramental gatherings; but they are the place were the work I have been freed up to do really occurs.

Recently I was having coffee and the topic involved how to respond to a job offer.  This often happens; job offers are inclined to come your way as you complete your studies.  This particular conversation included talk of the greater good this person wants their job to accomplish.  It was part of their life-long vision to eventually get a job; but they want to make sure that the job is more than a pay-check, that it also made a difference in the world.

My devotional guide sent me to I Corinthians 12 this morning.  Paul speaks of spiritual gifts.  As is always the case with Paul, he speaks of these gifts as an opportunity to  use what God has given us for "the common good."

Here is yet another instance in which the longings of our heart expose the presence of God.  Long before we form the cognitive thought about the large-picture outcomes of our career, there is within us the gifts of God which seek a common good.  

Allowing ourselves to be guided by that Spirit brings us to the place where contentment and satisfaction take on a whole new meaning.