Shove That Job - I'll Take It

“Shove That Job – I’ll Take It”

Ecclesiastes 5:18-20

(Labor Day Message)

We are in the third message of a series entitled “Seven of the Most Important Decisions You Will Ever Make”. Since this is Labor Day weekend, this is a great time to talk about the blessing it is to have a job. Some of us remember the old country western classic, “Take This Job and Shove It” sung by Johnny Paycheck. A few years later during a recession of the early 1980’s, I heard someone say that the new version of the song had been changed to say, “Shove That Job – I’ll Take It!”

Did you hear about the young college graduate who was interviewing for his first job? When the HR Director asked him what he was looking for, the young man explained that he wished to start at a salary of $100K, be placed in a corner office and he wanted his own secretary. The HR guy responded by offering to add a matching dollar for dollar to his 501K as well an automobile of his choice, preferably a BMW. He looked at the young man and asked how that sounded. He replied, “Are you kidding me???” The HR guy said, “Of course I am but you started it”.

Not everybody seems to appreciate their job. Perhaps, you have read some of these employee reviews that have been floating around on the Internet.

"Since my last report, he has reached rock bottom and has started to dig."

"His men would follow him anywhere, but only out of morbid curiosity."

”This guy slipped into the gene pool when no one was looking. “

"This employee is really not so much of a has-been, but more of a definitely won’t be."

"Works well when under constant supervision and cornered like a rat in a trap."

"When she opens her mouth, it seems that this is only to change whichever foot was previously in there."

"He would be out of his depth in a parking lot puddle."

"This young lady has delusions of adequacy."

"She sets low personal standards and then consistently fails to achieve them."

"This employee should go far - and the sooner he starts, the better."

"This employee is depriving a village somewhere of an idiot."

"A gross ignoramus--144 times worse than an ordinary ignoramus."

"When his I.Q. reaches 50, he should sell."

"She donated her brain to science before she was finished using it."

"If you give him a penny for his thoughts, you’d get change."

When it comes to our career, most of us have our dream job and then we have our real job. How did you end up in the job that you have? How did you end up in the career choice that you made? Would you describe yourself as being happy with that choice? Do you look forward to going to work each day? Have you ever considered the link between your work and how that impacts your walk with Christ? Your job is a big deal to God. In fact, there is a lot of plain talk in the Bible about work. Here are a few examples:

We hear that some among you are idle. They are not busy; they are busybodies. 12Such people we command and urge in the Lord Jesus Christ to settle down and earn the bread they eat. 13And as for you, brothers, never tire of doing what is right. (2 Thessalonians 3:11-12)

Make it your ambition to lead a quiet life, to mind your own business and to work with your hands, just as we told you, 12so that your daily life may win the respect of outsiders and so that you will not be dependent on anybody. (1 Thessalonians 4:11-12)

For even when we were with you, we gave you this rule: "If a man will not work, he shall not eat." (2 Thessalonians 3:10)

Laziness brings on deep sleep, and the shiftless man goes hungry. (Proverbs 19:15)

The sluggard’s craving will be the death of him, because his hands refuse to work. (Proverbs 21:25)

“He who has been stealing must steal no longer but must work , doing something useful with his hands”. (Ephesians 5:28)

There are several reasons why so many people are not happy with their jobs. Some of us feel underappreciated by our employees. Others of us followed the career path we did to please our parents. Some of us did it for the money while others of us chose the road of least resistance. The good news is that more people are changing careers mid-stream than ever before. There are more ways to return to schools and re-tool yourselves than ever before. In fact, a huge cottage industry has sprung up on the Internet specifically for this purpose. Sites such as Monster.com, the Wall Street Journal and Amazon.com have huge pages dedicated to meet this need. In preparation for this message, I typed in “career change” to Google and more than 28 million choices of responses popped up.