Vision

Christian Working Woman Transcript

Monday, February 19, 2007 - Ask God for a Vision

I’d like you to imagine this scene. It’s time for your annual evaluation by your boss, and you’re confident it will be a good result because you’ve met all the requirements of your job description. In addition, you’ve only had two sick days and you’re almost always on time. So you’re expecting a good evaluation and hopefully a good raise.

Your boss agrees that you’ve done an adequate job this year, that you’ve met all the minimum requirements of your job description. And after that brief comment, he asks if you have any questions. You’re puzzled; is that all he’s going to say? You expected some credit for meeting the requirements. So you ask if you are going to get a raise.

Your boss then explains that raises are given for people who do more than the job description requires, and since you’ve only met the requirements, you are not qualified to receive a raise. Would you be shocked at that evaluation? Well, basically that’s what Jesus was teaching His disciples in this parable, as found in Luke 17:

Suppose one of you had a servant plowing or looking after the sheep. Would he say to the servant when he comes in from the field, 'Come along now and sit down to eat'? Would he not rather say, 'Prepare my supper, get yourself ready and wait on me while I eat and drink; after that you may eat and drink'? Would he thank the servant because he did what he was told to do? So you also, when you have done everything you were told to do, should say, 'We are unworthy servants; we have only done our duty.'

(Luke 17:7-10)

Does it seem harsh to you? Well, Jesus was trying to teach His disciples that just getting by doing what you’re supposed to do is not enough for commendation. He wants His disciples to have a passion for doing more than their mere duty. He wants His disciples to have a vision for all they could do and be because of Jesus.

The Bible says that without a vision, people perish. What kind of vision are we talking about? Some miraculous sign we receive, an out-of-body experience or a dream? No, the vision I’m talking about is being able to anticipate and see what God wants to do in and through us. It is the kind of vision that successful people have in any endeavor.

We need visionaries–not mindless, impractical, fanciful dreamers– but people of God who are willing to ask God for a vision of what He wants to do in and through them. Yet we don’t see too many people like that in our Christian circles. Lots of us are doing what we’re supposed to do. But too many of us never push the envelope, we never dream a dream, we never imagine anything more than just doing what we’re supposed to do.

I want to encourage you to ask God to give you a vision, so that you aren’t just doing the bare minimum, but you’re soaring like an eagle, way above the ordinary. That’s the abundant life Jesus came to give us.