Senior Partner

Imagine if you worked for Warren Buffet; imagine if you were his on-site manager.  You would come to work on a daily basis expecting problems to arise that day --- that's why you are there -- to handle the things that come up.  You know what Buffet expects; he hired you and trained you to use your skills to protect his interests.  And when you need direction, advice, or resources, he is available to you.  He does not leave his business entirely in your hands because it is still his business, but he does trust you to manage it from day to day.

Our lives are like that:  if God is the Senior Partner in the business of our lives, He expects us to use our skills to manage each day.  But he is still involved; it is His business after all.  He is willing to provide guidance, advice, and resources ---but He also expects us to consult Him regularly.  He is not an absentee landlord; He is present and active in all the endeavors of our lives. 

Many people just cannot accept Jesus' teaching about the birds of the air and lilies of the field (Matthew 6:25-34).  I don't know if they think Jesus was just speaking poetically here or if He was blowing smoke, but they cannot accept His examples literally.  This passage follows the one about not being able to serve both God and Money -- and the word "Money" is capitalized in the Scripture, which should tell us something.

I think our lives are a mind-set.  Are we really "reporting for work" each day?  Or do we get up thinking that our lives are our own "business," that we are in charge of all that happens, that it is up to us to make the business run and show a profit each day?  The question is, Whose business is it?  Who is in charge?  Who provides the resources?  Who figures out the bottom line at the end of the day?  To whom do we report the successes and failures of the day?  Are we employees or bosses?

To be an employee does not diminish us at all; in fact, if we keep in mind the Warren Buffet analogy, it would be a great honor for us to have his trust and to manage his business.  Our prestige would be enormous; could we desire to go higher in the world of business than to manage one of Buffet's establishments?  Would we have to compromise our ethics to work for such a man?  Would we have less integrity as persons if we worked for Buffet?  No, but his own "glory," if you will, would be our own.  We would shine in his light.

The same if true if God were the Senior Partner in the endeavor of our lives.  We would shine in His glory; He would provide the resources -- we would be the managers.  How exciting is that?