Vocational Disciplines (4)

But He said to them, “You give them something to eat.” And they said, “We have no more than five loaves and two fish, unless we go and buy food for all these people.” For there were about five thousand men. Then He said to His disciples, “Make them sit down in groups of fifty.” And they did so, and made them all sit down. Luke 9.13-15

A God of order
God, the Apostle Paul reminds us, is a God of order, and He commands us, His people, to do all things decently and in order (1 Cor. 14.40).

Doing things decently and in order has much to commend it. Roger Scruton points out that order – doing things in an organized way – can be a source of beauty, and beauty is admired by almost everyone. He invites us to consider the difference between a neatly set and well-appointed dinner table and one in which the equipage, accoutrements, and condiments are simply thrown together in a pile.

Getting organized and pursuing an orderly approach to our walk with and work for the Lord also helps to make for efficient use of time. Here a word of confession: If I would just take the time to organize the books in my library better, I would not have to spend so much time looking for the one book I need for this or that project or course. Time is precious, as Jonathan Edwards reminded us, and the more efficiently we use our time in pursuit of our calling to the Kingdom and glory of God, the more time we will seem to have for all the work we’ve been given to do.

Third, as Jesus demonstrated in feeding the thousands, getting organized is an excellent way to make sure that the blessings of God get distributed fairly and completely, so that the grace of Jesus can overflow from us consistently, refreshingly, and transformingly into every area of our Personal Mission Fields.

Obviously, getting organized – and working in an orderly manner – is an important vocational discipline.

Begin here
If you have identified your particular calling from the Lord, and if you daily commit yourself to embracing that calling, you’ll be in a position to get better organized for the work you’ve been given to do in seeking the Kingdom and glory of God.

Planning is an important part of getting organized, and we’ve already said perhaps enough about that. But for planning to issue in fruitful work we have to make sure we’ve established the right priorities for our lives. This can be a bit challenging, because every day so many voices call out to us for attention, time, interest, and action. I read an article some years ago by economist Robert Heilbroner, in which he noted the many scores of messages that come at us each day from advertising alone. Something like 18 of those messages stick in our brains and influence our decisions and actions. Every day!

And what about the demands of our job, the conversations we have with friends, upcoming events and activities, the suggestions of pop culture and the media, and on and on? All these threaten to pull us this way and that, and we can end up being tools in someone else’s agenda, someone else’s priorities, rather than our own. We need to make certain that we’re prepared each day to face the barrage of wooing voices with the firm resolve to hold fast and organize our lives around the right priorities.

And what are those “right priorities”? First, seek the Kingdom, at all times, in every situation. Fix in your mind to let every choice or decision be filtered by the question, “How will this conduce to the increase of righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit?” (Rom. 14.17, 18). A corollary to this question is, “Will this decision or action enable me to love God and my neighbor?”

Second, always try to do things in the right order. Jesus suggests as much by instructing us, before we start criticizing others, to make sure our own moral or spiritual house is in order (Matt. 7.1-5). When it comes to assignments, projects, activities, and the like, it’s helpful to fix in your mind the whole effort, in completed form, then to work backwards from that vision to arrange the details of things to do and to decide the best order in which to do them. If you’ve ever assembled a piece of furniture or a child’s toy, following a manual, you’ll know what I mean.

Finally, always strive to identify and turn the smallest gears. In all our work we’re connected to other people, whose own work, together with ours, combines to make for an efficient workplace, a clean and happy home, or a well-run and fruitful ministry activity at church. Lots of “gears” have to “mesh” in order for such good works to result, and we can make the best use of our time and efforts if we understand which are the smallest “gears” available to us. Plan to turn those, and they’ll engage and turn others, which will engage and turn others still, thus helping to keep all the parts moving toward successful completion of the work you’ve been given to do.

Think back to our text for today: Consider Jesus as He, first, considered what the Kingdom and love required in order to bring “Good News” to thousands of hungry people. Then, He envisioned the whole project coming to completion, and all the details that would need to be satisfied – How much food do we have? How will we make sure that’s enough? What’s the best way to get everybody fed in as little time as possible? Who should be assigned to do what? Then, finally, Jesus turned the smallest gears available to Him. I suppose He could have gone to each person individually and given them some bread and fish. But He didn’t. He blessed the food, made sure enough was available, then gave it to the disciples to distribute. The rest is history.

Jesus was – and is – a God of order, and we can refract His orderly ways by getting organized for all the work He’s given us to do.

Next steps: In what areas of getting organized could you use some help? Ask a believing friend, church leader, or pastor to advise you on the best ways to improve your organizational skills.

T. M. Moore

This week’s study, Vocational Disciplines, is part 5 of a 7-part series on The Disciplined Life, and is available as a free download by clicking here. We have prepared a special worksheet to help you begin getting your disciplines in proper shape for seeking the Kingdom. Write to T. M. at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. for your free PDF of the “Disciplined Life Worksheet.”

A rightly-disciplined life requires a Kingdom vision, and that vision is centered on Jesus Christ exalted. T. M. has prepared a series of meditations on the glorious vision of Christ, based on Scripture and insights from the Celtic Christian tradition. Order your copy of Be Thou My Vision by clicking here.

Sign up for ViewPoint Leaders Training, free and online, and start your own ViewPoint discussion group.

Except as indicated, Scripture taken from the New King James Version. © Copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.