The Word That Isn’t In God’s Vocabulary

The Word That Isn’t in God’s Vocabulary

Beware! Guard against every kind of greed. Life is not measured by how much you own. Luke 12:15

I have been richly blessed in my career. Wonderful people, wonderful positions, wonderful places. But when I decided to retire, people kept asking when I planned to go back to coaching, assuming I would miss it. Certainly, there are parts I miss about being with a team, but I didn’t retire to inactivity. My life—and yours, when you reach that point—continues to have purpose serving God and using the gifts and abilities He has given me. God always has something else in store.

How many of us have material blessings and don’t appreciate them or worse, don’t use them to benefit others?

In his book Don’t Waste Your Life, John Piper retells a story from a February 1998 issue of Reader’s Digest as an example of not living your life with purpose. As a matter of fact, Piper calls it an American tragedy: a couple took early retirement and moved to Florida, where their life consisted of cruising on a thirty-foot trawler, playing softball, and collecting shells.

For this couple, that was the dream they decided to live. Piper muses sadly that a day will come when they are at the end of their precious, God-given lives. As they stand before Christ at the day of judgment, they will only be able to say, “Look, Lord. See my shells.”

God has placed you here for a reason, even when you reach “retirement.” Maybe to build up His Kingdom through another career or volunteer service or a mentoring opportunity He plans to keep you busy with.

Uncommon Key > Read the parable of the rich fool in Luke 12:13-21. What do you dream of doing for God’s Kingdom? That dream may be realized. To live the life God created you to live, remember it is an “always” thing—there is no such thing as “retirement” in the Kingdom of God.