Great Career Advice in Proverbs

Here is some great career advice in Proverbs today.

Proverbs 24:3-4(NKJV)

3    Through wisdom a house is built,      And by understanding it is established;

4    By knowledge the rooms are filled     With all precious and pleasant riches.

Wisdom, knowledge, and understanding.  This is one of the things I wrote about early in the blog.  Back in November of 2011.  I thought they were all somewhat the same but it turns out they are different.  You can read that here.  http://randomobservationsofacommonchristian.blogspot.com/2011/11/whats-difference.html

What strikes me about this passage, like all of Proverbs, is the way it stresses the three pillars as I think of them.  Wisdom, knowledge, and understanding.  If you constantly seek the three pillars, life should be pretty good. 

Why do so many Christians struggle financially?  I think one of the reasons is that a lot of people, Christians and otherwise, don't follow this simple admonition. 

How many people do you know who proudly declared when they graduated that they were done?  They would never pick up a book again.  They were done with their learning.

God says seek wisdom.  They say no.  Isn't it sad how they deliberately limit the blessings that God wants to give them?  All they have to do is follow God's plan. 

Does it make sense that if you constantly learn new things and grow, that you'll have more opportunities than if you don't do those things?  That is another thing that I wish more people understood.  God's plan isn't magic.  It's cause and effect for the most part.

Too many Christians it seems to me wait around praying for God to make things better without making any changes of their own.  It's like they expect some Godly magic. 

God's plan doesn't work like that.  His promises are most often conditional.  Do this, and this will happen.  Well guess what?  The reverse of that is true as well.  Don't do this and those other things aren't as likely to happen.

Proverbs 24:27(NKJV)

27    Prepare your outside work,      Make it fit for yourself in the field;     And afterward build your house.

Prepare your outside work, make it fit for yourself…  What great advice!  Why don’t more people do it?  How many people do you know who are "trapped" in careers they don't like because they didn't follow this advice in Proverbs.  In other words they just took the first thing that came along and now they have been doing it so long they feel trapped.

First off I put trapped in quotes because I don't believe anyone is ever truly trapped.  If you want to make a change bad enough and you believe it is God's will that you make that change; then trust God and make it!

Secondly, don't you think that those who take the time and discipline to plan their careers in something that they are passionate about, are more likely to find their work fulfilling?

So again, the Bible's advice leads to a more fulfilling life in most cases. 

Proverbs 24:33-34(NKJV)

33    A little sleep, a little slumber,     A little folding of the hands to rest;

34    So shall your poverty come like a prowler,      And your need like an armed man.

And the last piece of the puzzle.  Don't let down your guard.  Stay active, stay vigilant.   Keep working hard, it's good for you!

One of the funniest contradictions I see in my profession (I'm a financial advisor) is all of the people who work their butts off to retire in their mid 50s.  What almost all of my clients have found out is this. 

It takes a lot of hard work to be able to retire in your mid 50s.  A lifetime of hard work.  They've been doing it so long that hard work is just a habit.  It's ingrained.  It's hard for most people to turn it off.

So most of my clients who worked their tails off their whole lives to be able to retire in their mid 50s end up going back to work.  Not because they need the money.  It is simply because they are bored to death!  :)

Again, isn't it funny that the Bible has always known this truth as well!