Vocation as a Treasure Hunt

When God gave the creation or dominion mandate to Adam, the command was five-fold: be fruitful, multiply, fill the earth, subdue it, and have dominion over all the animals. In other words, our calling as men and women is to see the world as our calling. We are called to find a patch of the earth and claim it for King Jesus. The early explorers had the right idea, even if they applied it somewhat haphazardly. We're called to look at the world and find something wonderful, something amazing, something that blows our minds and imaginations and dig in.

If rocks amaze you, then give your life to studying, ruling, and subduing rocks. If words rock your world, then give your life to studying, ruling, and subduing words, languages, and stories. If numbers put the sparkle in your eye then give your life to studying, ruling, and subduing numbers and equations. The world is our treasure hunt. God said to Adam, "Look, there's this river that flows out of this garden, and parts into four heads a little ways down. Down that one river there is gold and precious stones, and the other one goes to this amazing land called Africa, and those other two... well, I leave those for you to explore."

It's so easy for vocation to become only a duty, only a chore, and only a utilitarian means to an end. I have a family I must feed. I have a mortgage I must pay. I have children in college. But these are less than the calling that God has given to us. We're actually called to our vocations for his glory and our fulfillment in him. And it's because he has promised to bless us and make us fruitful in our labors that we *get* to feed our family, that we *get* to build and pay for homes, and that we *get* to send our children out into the world to be trained, educated, and equipped to join us in taking dominion. God has loaded the world with treasures, and he's given us a treasure map in his Word. And he has said, "Go on, get busy."