I had this conversation with my fiancé recently that brought this thought to mind and reminded me of so much and how powerful God is. How he works through us forever.
I moved to south Florida from Wisconsin and began working for American Express here. One day I walked into the cafeteria and there’s this Haitian lady working in there, I chat with her, get her name and now every day I greet her, call her by her name and we chat. One day she asks me “What’s your last name?” I tell her “Neree” She responds “Oh O! Are you related to Pasteur Neree?” “Yes, that’s my grandfather.” Then she goes on about how she grew up in his cafeteria, school & church and how impactful it was on her and changed her life.
My grandfather Pasteur Luc Neree, had built a cafeteria in Haiti; he brought in a couple school buses from Florida to Haiti and would send them out to pick up children and feed them. He’d feed on average 500 people a day; she was one of them. He built a church for the community and school for the children there as well. Louisette was all smiles as she was telling me all of this, lighting up the cafeteria with her smile. That moment there alone filled me up and got me energized & inspired.
Thinking of that moment brought me to this insight and conversation with my fiancé; as I was telling her how powerful that was to me; how a guy who died when I was 2 years old, a man I don’t have any memory of, how this guy’s work of literally feeding children in Haiti decades ago came to life in that moment and fed me spiritually (through this child who is now a grown lady, serving & feeding me, his son, in another country). His work fueled me through someone who was blessed by his work some 30 years later. That work is timeless.
As I thought of this, I thought of Proverbs 13:22 “A good man leave an inheritance to his children’s children..” I thought, this just fed me in this moment spiritually, his work fed me monetarily the year prior when I was making the move from Wisconsin to Florida, my mother loaned me money from the sale of one of his properties at the time. This guy who died decades ago, continues to fuel and feed my life in so many ways. This man is a man I can’t remember seeing or being around in the flesh. That thought is so powerful to me.
As I shared this with Kalin, my fiancé, she mentioned how awesome that was and said, “Think about how Goes does that, how his work does that and continues to do that for ages”. It led us to think about a sermon we head a few days prior about “God’s work being timeless”. When your work has the touch of God it will endure for ages. It’ll be timeless, fueling people, the city, the nation & the world for ages, forever.
Insight that came from these thoughts and conversations was, that’s the whole goal. That’s the whole point. Do God’s work. Do work that’s timeless. What are you aiming for it that’s not it?
Is your work going to impact, fuel, feed and help people long after you’re gone? Is your work bigger than you? What are you doing today that will help people 100 years from now? Long after you’re physically gone will you still be contributing to the world at that time? Is your work timeless?
That’s the goal for your work. That’s the goal for life. To serve, love, contribute beyond yourself and for people today and people to come in generations from now. Steve Jobs used to say, “Make a dent in the universe”. Enhance it through your work, move people through your work.
When you operate from that mindset, how does it change your approach? How does your aim change? What are you really doing? Aiming to make an impact, enhance the quality of life & help people grow or are you looking to just make money and grow your bank account and improve your quality of life? There’s nothing wrong with that; but you gotta have more than that in store. You were made for so much more. You were made to give so much more & to receive so much more than just money & whatever feelings monetary accomplishments bring you.
Make your work timeless. “A good man/woman leaves an inheritance to his/her children’s children.” An inheritance isn’t just of monetary value, real estate; you can aim for that as well great, but more importantly what kind of spiritual currency are you leaving your children’s children? What kind of mindset, behavior and beliefs, purposes are you leaving your children’s children. Not your children, but your children’s children.
Don’t think of how your work benefits your children, we’re thinking about your children’s children. Think that far ahead, and work to impact that. How are you going to fuel them spiritually if you can’t physically be there, if you can’t talk to them face to face or give them money, how are you going to teach them? How do you teach them through your work right now? That’s the goal. That’s the key. How can they recognize your voice, your wisdom, your love long after you’re gone? How do you help them recognize God’s voice and God’s work?
One of my favorite lines that comes to mind when thinking of this is, “Have a vision beyond your resources.” I got that from “The Circle Maker by Mark Batterson”. That’s the type of thinking you need when you’re aiming to make your work timeless. When your aiming to impact your city, your nation & your world.
When you get a grasp of that vision, that vision will pull you to do work that’s timeless, that’s doing God’s work on Earth, that’s God working through you. Being busy minded, or being a busybody trying to “Earn, grind it out, get paid, accumulate, invest, generate” isn’t what God is calling you do to. Earning, accumulating, generating, investing is not the main purpose, it’s not the end-goal, it’s simply a by-product of being an instrument to God and doing work that’s timeless.
I hope you clarify your purpose, be an instrument and create work that’s timeless.
Comments