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You, Inc.: Consider The Ant (Part 3)
December 16, 2024 · 52 min
Hungry for more? We've got the table set for you. Visit thebasicswithbeth.com to binge the basics on your favorite platforms: podcasts, YouTube, online bible courses, books and more.
Series The Basics With Beth December 16, 2024 · 52 min · The Basics With Beth
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Beth Jones is a Bible teacher and founder of The Basics With Beth, a non-profit Christian teaching ministry dedicated to helping people learn the Bible basics.
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0:00 Hi, guys. I'm Beth Jones, and welcome to the basics with Beth where learning God's word is a joy. In every message, we will do our best to teach you the bible0:12 basics in such a way that it strengthens your faith foundation. In addition, I want to empower and equip you so that you have confidence to share0:24 these Bible basics with others. So lean in and listen with your heart. If you'd like to know more about our ministry, just go to the basics with beth dot com and get all the0:36 scoop. With all of that said, now let's jump into today's message.0:43 Good morning again. Alright. Praise the lord. We are in week 3 of a series called You Inc. How many of you have been with us for at least 1 of the past 2? Awesome. Great. How many of you this is your first 1?0:55 Yay. Alright. We're gonna get you all right up to speed. This series called You Inc. Is specifically a series directed at you. You know, a lot of times we do series here throughout the year to to help us1:07 discover who we are in Christ, and to get into the word, blessing, and how we can love God, and serve God, and love people, and serve people, and give to God, and give to people, you know, all of those1:19 things. And and what God does through us, blessed to be a blessing. But in this series, we told you the month of July, you have permission. It's okay when you come to church this month for it to be all1:31 about you. We're talking about not just what God wants to do through you, but what God wants to do to you. Not just you being a blessing, but you being blessed. And you increasing1:42 the value that God has on you, that you discovering some things about, you know, God's vocation for you, the career, the job, the the calling, the entrepreneurial ideas and instincts you
1:54 might have, ways to set yourself apart on the job, ways to be an awesome, God honoring, favored employee. You know, ways just to really invest in you
2:06 this month because you can't give what you don't have. And so sometimes we're so focused on others, which is a great thing, that we're not taking time to really do some inventory and take a look at the assets God's given
2:17 us and the season of life we're in and the things that he wants us to focus on. And so we're doing that in this series. So let me give you a quick review of what we've covered so far and kind of where we're gonna go
2:27 today. Week number 1, we talked about anyone can be a maven. And we looked at a story in second Kings chapter 4, widow woman with 2 sons, and she turned out, it turns out God made
2:39 her an awesome entrepreneur. She wasn't really expecting it, but God made her an entrepreneur, a maven, you know, a mega whiz, a superstar, a genius, somebody that was outstanding
2:51 in their field is is the essence of a maven. And we talked about 2 questions that the holy spirit through the prophet asked her, same questions the lord asks us today. We begin to talk about You Inc. The first question
3:03 is what do you want? What do you want? What are those god given desires that are on the inside of you? You know, the macro desires about your life and your destiny and your
3:15 purpose, the micro desires, things right now, like in life right now. What do you want? And then we said the second question was what do you have? Because what you have, what
3:26 God's given you in terms of gifts and talents, divine connections, resources, what God's given you will be what he uses to fulfill what you want, those God given desires. So
3:38 week 1, anybody can be a maven and it starts by asking the question, what do you want? What do you have? Week number 2, we talked about who wants to be a millionaire. And we talked about the importance of that,
3:50 that it's really important that people in the body of Christ prosper. The bible says that the blessing of the Lord maketh rich, and he adds no sorrow to it.
4:02 You know, sometimes people just need permission. So many times in the body of Christ, we've had such a poverty mindset, you know, such a barely get along street mindset that Christians have been afraid to prosper.
4:13 Listen. God wants you blessed. The bible says he gives you richly all things to enjoy. He wants you blessed and then to be a blessing. It's the blessing of the Lord. Everybody say it. It's the
4:24 blessing of the Lord. Say it again. It's the blessing of the Lord that makes 1 rich. And the bible says in Proverbs, it's Proverbs 10. Look it up. I'm not making
4:36 this up. He adds no sorrow with it. When you do it God's way, when you tap into You Inc, and you begin to recognize and cooperate with the Holy Spirit, and hook up with God as your senior partner in life,
4:49 you find out God has a way of strategically showing you how to prosper and and to succeed in life and to be blessed to be a blessing, and there's no sorrow with it. But who knows? There's a lot of people in that have
4:59 prospered in life. There's a lot of rich millionaires, multimillionaires that have prospered in life without God. The only problem is it came with a lot of sorrow. They lost their marriage. They lost their kids. They
5:10 lost their health. They lost their integrity. Oh, they were rich, but it came with a lot of sorrow. And that's not God's way. And so as we get into this, you know, today, kinda pick up where we left off. You know, just
5:22 know God has a desire for you to be blessed. No doubt about it. No apologies needed to be a blessing ultimately. So week number 2, we talked about 2 questions then to ask. Week number 2, first
5:34 week, what do you want? What do you have? Second week, what will you do? What kind of action steps does God need us to take? And then the fourth question was, why will you do it? What's the motivation
5:46 For the things that we're talking about. It's not just to have, know, big motivational talks, so you can get all pumped up and go buy a bunch of materialistic things and forget about God and forget about eternity and
5:56 forget about the gospel. That's not the purpose of it. The why will you do it is for the eternal purposes God has on and in and through your life, and through us collectively as a body. So that's where we've
6:08 been. Now today, we're gonna talk about consider the ant. Anybody ever paid attention to an ant? Ants are interesting little creatures. We're going to give some time here to consider the
6:19 ant, but the goal of today, whether you're an entrepreneur, you've got ideas to start a business, You know, we talked in in weeks gone by that in the Garden of Eden, God had 4 rivers that provided for the first
6:31 family. 4 streams and rivers that serviced the Garden of Eden and that provided for the first family. And then from those rivers out, blessings went. And so in the same way, God has at least 4 rivers
6:43 of income for your family, at least 4 rivers of provision. Most of us only know 1 river, our job. But it's possible that there's 3 other streams, 3 other rivers,
6:55 3 other streams of income that God wants you to tap into. And so we need to consider the ant so that whether you're an entrepreneur, whether you're an employee, you work for somebody
7:07 else, so that you increase your value to your employer, you increase your value to yourself, you become more valuable in what you provide, what kind of services, what kind of
7:18 business, so that you set yourself apart. Who knows? It's important these days to set yourself apart, and for God's hand to be recognized upon you, God's favor to be recognized. Listen,
7:30 I heard this quote this week, and I just think it's awesome, and I've been pondering it all week. The price of average is to be ignored. Isn't that a good 1? If you're just average, come on,
7:42 everybody's average. Everybody's humdrum, running at the mill. The price of average is to be ignored. If you wanna be set apart for God's purposes and success and all
7:54 the things God wants to do in you and through you with your gifts, your talents, you know, your experiences, then you're gonna have to bust out of average. And we're gonna consider the ant and find out how to do some
8:05 really practical things. So grab your bibles. And if you need a bible, raise your hands. The ushers have 1. And we'll dive into it. Genesis 1 verse 28.
8:19 Genesis 1 verse 28. And this is again, you know, some of the precedent that God set, you know, when he created Adam and Eve and made man and established
8:31 the model, the precedent, the way things should be, what his will was. Genesis 1 28, get this, did I already pray? Let's do
8:43 it. Let's pray. Father, thank you so much for this great group of people, Lord. Thank you for Hungry Hearts, and holy spirit, thank you that you're the revealer and the teacher and our helper. I thank you, Lord. You know
8:55 where everybody is, every person in this room. Lord, you know them personally. You know what season they're in. You know what gifts and callings and destinies are on them. And I pray, holy spirit, that you will just pull
9:06 back the veil, give them the wisdom they need, the practical impartations of knowledge and understanding and discernment and discretion and prudence. Lord, that we can
9:18 be all that you've called us to be, and we can do all that you've called us to do in Jesus' name. And everyone that agreed said, amen. Genesis 1 28. These
9:30 are the first words God ever spoke to human beings. Like the first thing, first things he ever said to Adam and Eve. So you have to know that, you know, when God's gonna put his footprint on the heart and
9:42 the mind of humanity, These words have to be pretty important. There must be more to these words maybe than we've even discovered. These are the first things that God chose to say as mankind launched on
9:54 planet earth. Then God blessed them. And God said to them, be fruitful and multiply. Fill the earth and subdue
10:05 it. The first phrase that God says to Adam and Eve says to them, God blessed them. I I I want wanna just mention that, point that out because you need to
10:17 know. Men, you need to know. Women, you need to know. Boys and girls, you need to know. God blessed them. Them is plural. God blessed them, people. God bless them, the husband
10:29 and wife. God bless them, Adam and Eve. God's blessing is on them. And he said to them, he said to them both, nobody
10:41 can sort of shirk, you know, their part in this. God said this to both parties. He said, be fruitful and multiply. Now, know, you know, we know, naturally speaking, that obviously speaks of reproducing
10:53 humankind, you know? Have some babies and populate the earth. We get that. But there's more to it than just having more children. The word be fruitful, the definition of being fruitful
11:05 is to be productive. Be productive. I mean, come on, multiply. Be fruitful. Bear fruit. Be productive. And you need to know that's still God's plan for you.
11:17 He never intended for anyone to not be productive. I mean, non productivity creates depression. When there's no sense of purpose, when there's no sense of productivity or
11:29 anything to accomplish. Men and women, there's a sense of despair and purposelessness. He said right at the beginning, oh, no. My will for you is be productive.
11:40 It's a God given part of our DNA. Be productive. God wants you on the job. God wants you in your business. God wants you in your life to be productive and
11:53 multiply. So multiply, you know, what does that mean? Well, who knows the difference between addition and multiplication? Hopefully, you learned that in third grade. Hopefully, you had the multiplication tables that you
12:03 memorized. And there's a big difference between addition and multiplication. Multiplication, when God says be fruitful, be productive, and multiply. Listen, he's talking about a bigger picture than a lot of us have had.
12:15 It means by definition, enlarge, be large, increase. To multiply means to become great,
12:27 be many, To reproduce. In other words, in your business, in your influence, in your testimony for Christ through whatever your occupation is, God wants it to multiply.
12:39 He doesn't want you to fly under the radar. He doesn't want you to be invisible. He doesn't want your business to be invisible. He doesn't want your calling to be invisible. He doesn't want you on the job to be
12:49 invisible. Be fruitful and multiply. And then he says, fill the earth. I love this. Now again, we know, you know, populate the earth. We get that. But I love this because listen, for some of you, you're praying like,
13:01 God, do you want my business to go global? Like, do you want us to go global? Listen, this is your verse right here. Go global. Fill the earth. What's God given you? What do you have? What do you want?
13:13 What will you do? Why will you do it? Then take that thing and fill the earth with it. Go global with it. Listen, I'm gonna tell you a story. Years ago, back in 19 88,
13:25 how many of you were not born then? God bless you. Back in 19 88, the Lord put it in my heart to write a book called Getting a Grip on the Basics, which I wrote, and since then,
13:37 Harrison House has published it, and we've used it here for the last 20 years. Most of you, many of you have graduated from Getting a Grip on the Basics. So I wrote the book, and God was using it here. And and then I
13:46 would get these missionaries or friends in ministry or people around the world that would send me a note. Back in the day, it was a letter. And they would say, hey, we got a hold of your book. Anyway, we could translate
13:56 it into our language. And so we always gave people permission to translate it into the language that they wanted to translate it into, and we never asked for royalties or anything like that. It's like, nope. Just you
14:06 guys translate it, print it, use it. Let's get the word out there, you know. So over the course of the last 20 years or so, it's been translated into like 15 or 20 different languages. And so 1 of the
14:18 requirements was they had to send us a printed copy or a digital copy, a PDF. And that's all we that's all we asked for. So now for all these years, we had all these copies of getting a grip on the basics
14:29 in Spanish, Italian, German, Korean, Japanese, Mandarin Chinese, Urdu, all these different
14:41 languages. They had all those sitting in a file cabinet. And I was just glad they were using it, you know, somewhere wherever their particular ministry was. But then I get this God idea 1 day. I'm like, oh my gosh. We
14:51 like live in the Internet age. And through the Internet, you can go global, like, from your cell phone, like instantly. And so I talked to the staff at the time. I'm like, you guys, why haven't we thought of this
15:03 sooner? We just need to PDF all these books and get them up on a website and let people that are missionaries and bible school leaders in these countries know if they wanna access the download of Get A Grip On The
15:14 Basics. It's a free download. Download the whole PDF, print it, you know, email it to people. Let's just get the word out. So we began to put those things up on the Internet and like overnight, we went global.
15:27 We live in a different era. My sister Rhonda was here first service. Did you guys see Rhonda? And from Reyma, Mexico. They went down to Reyma, Mexico about 15 years ago to start a bible school and a church. And
15:39 they've got all the Get A Grip books in Spanish, and they use all the books down there in Mexico City. Well, I mean, I'm not in Mexico City, but God can take whatever it is you have, and you can be somewhere that you're
15:50 not. You can go global, and that's what God said at the very beginning. Be fruitful, multiply, go global, fill the earth and subdue it. What
16:02 does that mean? It means you be the boss. You be the boss of you. You dominate. You and the holy spirit, the greater 1 on the inside of you, you dominate. You're in charge. Your job's not in charge. Your finances are
16:14 not in charge. CNN is not in charge. Fox News is not in charge. This economy is not in charge. You are in charge. It's a command. And we're talking about You Inc. We're saying,
16:26 God, help us to increase our own value. Help us, God, to set ourselves apart. Not so that we're all, you know, something, but so that you are honored and glorified in our lives. We are blessed,
16:38 mega blessed, maven like blessed to be a blessing. And all the people said, amen. So with that introduction, then go over to a verse here.
16:49 Go over to second Thessalonians and let's talk about it. Whether you're an employee or an employer, this verse is an important 1. You know, because you don't wanna over
17:01 spiritualize these things and some people hear just enough, you know, just enough about God and faith to be dangerous to themselves. And they're like, yeah, praise the Lord. You know, with God all things are possible
17:12 and, you know, whatever I desire, God said pray about it. So, like, I just desire that I do not have to work and I can just like hang at home and God will just somehow fill my bank account, and my bills will be
17:24 paid. You know, because after all, you know, with God, all things are possible. But then they forget about verses like this, and so let's look at this 1. Second Thessalonians 3 verse
17:35 4 says, don't you remember the rule we had when we lived with you? If you don't work, you don't eat. Don't you love the bible? It's pretty
17:47 blunt. And now, we're getting reports that a bunch of lazy good for nothings are taking advantage of you. This must not be tolerated. We command them to get to work immediately, no excuses, no
17:59 arguments, and earn their own keep. Friends, don't slack off in doing your duty. If anyone refuses to obey our clear command written in this letter, don't let him get by with
18:11 it. Point out such a person and refuse to subsidize his freeloading. Maybe then he'll think twice. But don't treat him as an enemy, sit him down and talk about the problem as
18:22 someone who cares. You need to understand, you know, as we're talking about consider the ant and anyone can be a maven and who wants to be a millionaire and next week, we'll talk about go big or go home. We need to
18:34 understand that in the midst of all of that, God's expecting us to work. Now he's our senior partner. He's working with us, but he does not God doesn't authorize or condone, you know, freeloaders and people that just
18:45 wanna live off somebody else. God's enabled us to be fruitful, to multiply, to fill the earth, and to subdue it. So you may say, well, I've applied for a bunch of jobs and I've gotten rejected. I've put my application in
18:57 all over and I can't get a job. Well, you just keep putting in your applications and you reject rejection. So here's a letter. From Chris Jensen,
19:09 he applied for an assistant professorship position at Whitson University. And he received his notification from the college and he wrote back to the chair of the search
19:21 committee. He rejected their rejection. Dear professor Millington, thank you for your letter of March sixteenth. After careful consideration, I regret to inform you that
19:32 I am unable to accept your refusal to offer me an assistant professor position in your department. This year, I have been particularly fortunate in receiving
19:45 an unusually large number of rejection letters. With such a varied and promising field of candidates, it is impossible for me to accept all refusals. Despite your
19:56 university's out outstanding qualifications and previous experience in rejecting applications, I find that your rejection does not meet my needs at this time. Therefore,
20:09 I will assume the position of assistant professor in your department this August. I look forward to seeing you then. Best of luck in rejecting future applicants.
20:21 So, just reject rejection. There you go. Just show up. So we're talking about you ink,
20:32 consider the ant. So let's take a look at the ant here. Go ahead and go over to Proverbs 6 verse 6. And we'll take a look at this little critter, the ant. Proverbs 6 verse 6, go to the ant,
20:44 you sluggard. Consider her ways and be wise, which having no captain, overseer, or ruler provides her supplies in the summer and gathers her food in the
20:56 harvest. This ant is an interesting creature. They just have an intuitive sense of things. They don't even have a captain or an overseer or a boss. They just have an intuitive sense and they're very productive
21:08 and industrious, you know, and and they're self starters and they get the job done. They get done what it is ants do. So the opposite of an ant, who knows what the laziest, slowest
21:19 animal on earth is? Anybody know? The sloth. You guys are good. The sloth is the slowest, laziest animal on earth. They sleep up to 18 hours a day.
21:32 They hang upside down on tree branches. They live their whole life upside down. And get this, their speed, they move 6 inches to 1 foot per minute.
21:45 I mean, that's ridiculous. Go to the ant, you sloth. Don't be a sloth. Don't be a slugger. Let's be like the ant. Now, the ant on the other hand only lives for between 20 and 30 days.
21:58 You think about how industrious they are in their little blip on the radar screen. You know, those 30 days, they get it done. They're working like crazy. The queen bees got things under control. The drones are mating,
22:10 and the soldiers are guarding the guarding camp, guarding the colony. Okay. This is a story of the ants' productivity. In 2000, researchers discovered an Argentine ant colony
22:22 that ranges over 6000 kilometers from Italy to the Spanish Atlantic coast, and effectively forms the largest cooperative unit ever recorded. As impressive as it
22:34 sounds, in 2009, new research confirmed that the Argentine ant super colonies of Europe, California, and Japan comprised 1 single global melancholy
22:45 megacolony. 1 megacolony that encompassed Europe, California, and Japan. And you gotta keep in mind, these people only live
22:57 for 30 days. So you talk about industry, you talk about an intuitive sense, you talk about productive, you talk about be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it.
23:09 So no wonder the writer of Proverbs said, consider the ant and be wise. Alright? So, let me tell you the 3 things we're gonna consider about the ant. Number 1, regarding the ant, they
23:21 carry more than their weight. We should carry more than our weight. Number 2, they stay in their lane. They keep rank. You ever heard that song? The ants go marching 1 by 1. Hoorah. You guys
23:33 know that song? Yeah. They march in a line. They like know how to keep rank, they know their place, they know what their calling is. Stay in your lane. Number 3, maximize your time. You know, our
23:45 life on earth, we might get 70, 80, 90, 100 years on earth, but in light of eternity, it's a blip. It's just a little blip on that radar screen. It's very much like the ants 30 days. So maximize our time. So
23:57 let's look at number 1, carry more than your weight. If you get your bibles open, go ahead and open up to, Proverbs 30 verse 24. We talk about consider the ant, carry more than your
24:09 weight, you ink, increase your value, set yourself apart. Let me give you a couple of glossary terms, some introductory thoughts on your calling. This
24:21 book right here, 48 days to the work you love, is a great book. And at the very end of this, I'll put up a slide with a bunch of book recommendations. This is a great book. And 1 of the things he mentioned in here that I
24:32 really liked, he helped people begin to identify the difference between their vocation, their career, and their job. And it may be something you've thought about or maybe not. But it'd be worth giving some consideration
24:43 to as you consider the ant. Your vocation the word vocation comes from a Latin word. It means voqueire, which is your calling. Your vocation is your calling. What is your calling? Have you
24:55 identified? What is your calling? Like, you're on the planet for a reason, for your little blip on the radar, what is your calling? Your career is what enables you to do your calling. And your
25:06 job is like the least of these. The job is just the 9 to 5 tasks you do to earn an income. Now, it's best if your job, career and vocation all dovetail together.
25:19 That's the best. But there's a lot of people working jobs, making money, and they have never touched their vocation. They've never touched their calling. What does that mean in practical terms? Let's say that you feel
25:28 like you're calling, you know, it's like, I feel called to help hurting people. I feel called to help sick people, hurting people. You know, I just have compassion on
25:40 the needy and the hurting and the sick. That's your calling. Your career to fulfill that calling can be a lot of different things. You could be a doctor, you could be a nurse, you could be a hospital administrator,
25:52 you could be a medical missionary. I mean, there's a lot of things you could do from a career standpoint to fulfill the calling. Can you all see that? So what is your calling? And then it's a matter of some prayerful
26:03 consideration like, okay, Lord, what's my career then to fulfill that calling? And then what is my job within that career? And jobs can change. You know, a lot of people shift from job to job. If you shift from job to
26:15 job and as long as it's within your career track that is fulfilling your calling, that's an that's an aligned, congruent life. That's U Inc. At its finest. And again, we're
26:27 talking about this month, just take take some time. What's my what's my vocation? What's my calling? What's my career? What's my job? And then in all of that, we're considering today, we're considering the ant. Alright?
26:38 So carry more than your weight. Let's take a look at that 1. Carry more than your weight. 3 things that we'll mention, just give you a couple thoughts on. What does it mean to carry more than your weight? Number 1, it
26:49 means to go the extra mile. Don't just do the minimum. Be a self starter and aim for wow. Proverbs 30 verse 24 says, there are 4 things which
27:01 are little on the earth, but they are exceedingly wise. The ants are a people not strong. I like that. The ants are a people. The
27:13 ants are a people not strong. They're not very strong little critters, but they carry 50 times their weight. I know they had a picture up there, maybe you guys could put it back up. The picture with those ants with the
27:24 leaves on their back, These are the leaf cutting ants. They just go cut out little leaf pieces and carry them on their backs. 50 times their weight. They carry more than their weight. And so when the proverbs the writer
27:35 of proverbs tells us to consider the ant, then we have to go, God, am I carrying more than my weight? Am I a slacker? Am I just doing the bare minimums here, or am I carrying more than my weight? In order to carry
27:47 more than your weight, you gotta go the extra mile. You gotta have this attitude, I'm an extra miler. People, when they when when I come on to a job situation, people know, yay. Now, here's somebody that's gonna carry
27:58 their weight. They're gonna carry more than their weight. Here's somebody that's gonna get it done. They're not just gonna kick back in their cubicle, punch in, punch out, go home and didn't get anything done, or worked
28:08 at the sloth like pace. No. This is an extra mile or this is somebody that knows how to carry more than their weight. This is a person that you can count on. They're gonna get there a little early, they're
28:20 gonna stay a little late, they're gonna do everything on their to do list, and then they're gonna ask you what you need help with. They're not gonna go, I got my job done. I'm good. This is a mindset.
28:32 You know, you you have this attitude that I'm gonna carry the load. I'm not gonna make other people do my work. I'm not gonna miss my deadlines. I'm not gonna have excuses like, oops, I forgot.
28:43 Sorry. It's like, no. Heck no. I don't forget. I go the extra mile. I heard a story, this is an example, of a pilot. You say, how can I go the extra mile in what I do?
28:55 Well, you're you're gonna have to just give some prayerful thought to it. How could you go the extra mile in what you do? This pilot, commercial airline pilot, he gets on the airplane, they get up to
29:06 altitude, he puts in on automatic pilot, he gets to manifest the list of all the passengers from the stewardess, and while they're flying these international routes, he writes a personal thank you note to
29:18 every passenger on his plane. I'd say that's going the extra mile. You don't have to do that. That's exceptional. You're carrying more than your weight. They should do the thank you notes from headquarters, you know,
29:30 back out of administration or something. But now here's a pilot that's going the extra mile. How about you? What are the what are the things in your sphere of employment, your sphere of influence, your job
29:41 description? Some people have the idea. Well, know, that's not my job. Well, it should be. Who came up with that's not my job? As a Christian, your job is to honor god and consider the ant.
29:54 And all the people said, I mean, we're in a cult, you know, people just try to do the least possible. Well, you know, they didn't pay me for that. Well, are you there to be paid? Are you there to honor God? Are you there
30:06 to be a testimony and a light for Jesus Christ? And listen, I'll guarantee you, when your employer finds out, I've got somebody here that goes the extra mile. I mean, repeatedly goes the extra mile, like, every day
30:18 carries more than his or her fair share. You're gonna get noticed. You wanna get promoted? You wanna get favor from your employer? Man, just be the kind of person that
30:29 consistently goes the extra mile. You know, that's what they say about what's the guy's name, the quarterback for Denver? Tim Tebow. That's what they say about Tim Tebow. People say, you know, everybody underestimated
30:41 him. He graduates from Florida, you know, and he gets drafted to the Denver Broncos. How many of you are Tim Tebow fans? I tell you, I love that guy. Here's why, because he is so bold in his testimony for God, but
30:52 they you know, everybody underestimated him and he doesn't have what it takes for the NFL and blah blah blah. He gets out there and people that are, you know, associated with him say, that guy, nobody works harder than
31:02 Tim Tebow. He gets to practice early. He stays late. He practices. He watches films. He hustles. He's got a reputation of a guy that goes the extra mile. So
31:14 that's the kind of reputation we ought to have in whatever sphere we're in, whatever our particular vocation, career, or job is. Number 2, talking about carrying more than your weight. Be a self starter. Be the kind of
31:26 person that has some initiative. Don't just sit like a bump on a log and wait for somebody to tell you what to do. Now when they do tell you what to do, do it, but don't just wait. Where are the
31:37 initiators? Where are the catalyst? Where are the people that are self starters? They've got eyeballs, and they can look around and go, hey, I think that needs to be done. Hey, I think if I was the owner
31:49 of this place, if this was my business, this is how I'd want somebody to do it. I'm gonna be a self starter. I got all my stuff done. I'm going over and above, and I'm gonna take care of some things just to take some
32:01 initiative. I mean, the other thing is this. Let me just give this little shout out to employers. I guarantee you, every employer will want to give this CD to their employees. Because
32:12 listen, if you've got a job, if somebody's hired you, you need to have a little gratitude and go, you know what? Somebody paid a price somewhere along the way. Somebody paid a price to start this company. And they
32:24 probably had to sacrifice some things back in the day, and somebody probably paid a price to start this organization or this entity, and somebody paid a price somewhere along the way so that I could have a job, so that I
32:36 could get a paycheck and have benefits. Don't ever begrudge your employer, your boss. Don't ever have that attitude of I'll just do the bare minimum. I'll just get by, just work my slaving job and get my
32:48 pay. Don't have that attitude. That is a Christian for sure. Go the extra mile, be a self starter. Fire yourself up. Whistle while you work. Do something
33:00 to put a little pep in your step and that everybody knows, no, there's a person that's industrious, There's a person that reminds me of an ant. No captain, no overseer. They just have
33:12 an intuitive something that motivates them to do a good job. Number 3 thing, carry more than your weight. Number 3 thing is aim for wow. Aim
33:24 for wow. You know, all these really do dovetail. Carry more than your weight, man. Just aim for wow. Just have people go, wow. You work hard. Wow. I haven't worked with anybody like you. Wow. You
33:36 do a really good job. You know, here at the church, I mean, there's a lot of things we don't have to do. Like, we don't have to have guys in the parking lot with signs and arrows and
33:48 gals with matching outfits. We don't have to do that. You guys know how to park cars. You know how to go to the mall and get a parking spot. Why do we do that? We do that for the excellence quotient. We do that for the
33:59 wow. Let's carry more than our weight. You know, we don't have to have nice colors and moving lights and a we don't have to have 2 slides to get your kids into kids church.
34:13 They know how to walk in. Why do we have 2 slides? It's we're aiming for wow. It's the wow factor. It's the excellence thing. You know, 1 of our codes is the queen of Sheba inspires us.
34:25 When the queen of Sheba went to see Solomon's kingdom in the old testament, she was wowed. I mean, it took her breath away. She's like, I heard this was a cool thing you had going, but I had no idea how amazing it was
34:37 until I got here. I mean, the way your people operate, and the way they serve, and the smile on their face, and the clothes they wear, and the food on the table, Holy smokes, I've only heard half the story. Aim for wow.
34:50 What could you do as an employee, as an employer, as a business owner? They would just wow people. You don't have to do it, but it'll just wow them. And then that wow will point to to the God that you
35:02 serve, the hand of God upon you, the favor of the Lord around you. I mean, Disney. Take Disney, for example. We all know Disney, you know, as a wow place. But, you know, Disney, it's like 1 of the
35:13 largest attractions on the planet, really. They say 17000000 visits a year at all the Disney's. 5000 people work in maintenance.
35:27 600 people, their their primary job is painting. People say, the story goes, rumors have it, that every night at Disney, they repaint handrails
35:39 and curbs, so the next morning everything looks brand new. Do they have to do that? Well, probably not. Would people be okay with a little chip here or there? Probably. Why do they do it? It's the wow factor. It's the
35:50 excellence quotient. They steam clean every road in every Disney, every night. They hand paint the carousel, you know,
36:02 the little horses and and things on the carousel? They hand paint the carousel and they use gold leaf paint. Like, that's not cheap. Actual gold
36:14 leaf. Do they have to do that? Mean, these are little, you know, snotty kids that get on the carousel, you know? We could just use gold like paint from Home Depot.
36:27 Why do they do that? It's the wow factor. It's those little things, it's the little details, it's aim for wow. Number 2, let's talk about this. We're talking about consider the ant. Number 1, carry more than your own
36:39 weight. Number 2, stay in your lane. Stay in your lane. What does that mean? That's you know, these ants, they work together. It's amazing how they work without a captain or an overseer, but they all figure out their
36:49 place, their rank, they kinda know where they fit, their place, their job, and then they just do it. They just get it done. Stay in your lane could be described by a couple things. 1, keep rank and work
37:00 from your heart for the Lord. So let's talk about keeping rank. Keep rank. Do what you're told. It kinda goes back to this whole idea of, you know, if you're working for someone else, they're the boss of
37:12 you at the job, you're the boss of you in life. Here's a scripture, Colossians 3 verse 22. It says, servants, do what you're told by your earthly masters, and don't just do the minimum that will get you by.
37:24 Do your best. Work from the heart for your real master, for God, confident you'll get paid in full when you come into your inheritance. Keep in mind always that the ultimate master you're serving is
37:36 Christ. The sullen servant who does shoddy work will be held responsible. Being a follower of Jesus doesn't cover up bad work. So we're considering the ant, and
37:48 we're saying, let's stay in our lane. Let's keep rank. Let's do our job. Let's do what has been asked of us. Let's not argue. And when talk about, you know, keeping rank. Once you do your job, and once
38:00 you go the extra mile, and once you go over and above, and once you develop a reputation for that kind of a person, the time will come where eventually your boss will ask you for some input. Eventually, promotion will
38:11 come your way. When God counts you faithful, he promotes you. All of those things come into play. But who knows? There's a season, you know, especially those of you working for someone else. There's a season where you
38:22 just have to prove yourself faithful, and you have to show that you can keep rank. You can stay in your lane. Right now, your opinion has not been asked for. Well, I have all kinds of opinions about this place. I mean,
38:33 if they ask me to put me in charge, I'll tell you how I'd run it. Well, no 1 has put you in charge yet. So just do your job. And all the employers said
38:45 oh, that was pretty weak, employers. All the employers said still pretty weak. No, really, I'm I'm an employer. I'll tell you, amen and double amen.Show more
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