Building A Tower

"For which of you, desiring to build a tower, does not first sit down and count the cost, whether he has enough to complete it? Otherwise, when he has laid a foundation and is not able to finish, all who see it begin to mock him, saying, 'This man began to build and was not able to finish.' Or what king, going out to encounter another king in war, will not sit down first and deliberate whether he is able with ten thousand to meet him who comes against him with twenty thousand? And if not, while the other is yet a great way off, he sends a delegation and asks for terms of peace. So therefore, any one of you who does not renounce all that he has cannot be my disciple." - Luke 14:28-33 ESV

This is a good passage for career planning. To be successful financially we must plan like we are building a tower or waging a war. To be successful spiritually we must renounce all that we have and make the shift from relying on our own ability and rely instead on the gift of righteousness that has been given to us.

Surveying the landscape of our chosen profession is a good thing. If we were job hunting do we have the skills and tools in place to find a new source of income? If there was a fire or disaster of some kind do we have an escape route? Do we have a plan? Tower building requires a plan. If we want to live in a rancher we don't need an extensive plan but if we want to build a tower we do need one.

How about spiritually? Do we want to live in a rancher or to build a tower?

"Agree with thine adversary quickly, whiles thou art in the way with him..." - Matthew 5:25a KJV

In this verse our adversary is the Holy Spirit who convicts us. It might be a good idea to step back and make a few calculations. Do I really want a war with God? We don't have the resources for such a conflict so why go there?

Renouncing what we think we have and living in grace is a much wiser decision then beating ourselves or other people up. Grace is the best plan for the long haul. Our lives are better spent living by faith no matter what is looks like by sight.

The tower in Babel was never finished. They wanted to climb to Heaven and that never works. The things we want to see built are monuments to grace and those things glorify God.

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