Are we truly thankful for all that we have?  Solomon in all his glory was not as rich as the average middle-class American.  We have so much, but I fear that we are not very thankful.  Some examples:  We have air conditioning and heat.  With a flick of a switch we can have air conditioning that cools are homes to a comfortable 75 degrees without humidity.  If we want it cooler, we adjust the thermostat, and it cools to 70 degrees.  If we want heat, we flick it from cool to heat and our houses are instantly warmed.  We want cool water - we go to the refrigerator and get some fresh, filtered water.  Need it literally ice-cold?  We add some ice.  And we have the choice between cube and crushed ice.  Need some music, we put on some headphones or ear buds so we don't disturb anyone and listen to a full orchestra on our iPod that is so small we can put it in our bag.  Want an opera?  We select opera.  Want something totally different?  Then we select some country-western.  We want some entertainment?  Then we go to Netflix and download any one of hundreds of movies and watch them on our TV.  If we don't like the selection, we can shift to our DVD collection.  Life is good. 
     But what is our attitude?  We are richer than Solomon, one of the richest men that ever lived.  We have what he did not even dream existed.  And our attitude, which should be one of thanksgiving, is often complaining.  It takes too long for the hot water to reach the bath.  We have only 170 hours of music and someone else has 230 hours of music.  We only have a 50" TV and our friend has a 65" TV. 
    So let us always be thankful to God for the great riches that He has poured on even the poorest of us.

I was out to sea last week so I did not get an opportunity to write a blog.

It snowed last night - fast and furious, and what beauty - lots and lots of snow flakes coming down.  But what struck me last night is God's creativity.  Every snowflake is unique and there were thousands of them last night, perhaps millions.  How can that be?  God, who is infinite in power, is also infinite in creativity.  So He made each snowflake unique.  I think I would have run out of new ideas after a thousand, but He creates millions and millions of snowflakes that are unique.  Just like no two human beings are identical.  Even identical twins have different fingerprints.  Each one of us has our own God-given DNA, our own finger prints, our own teeth, etc. 
So let us praise God because of His creativity.

    The Psalmist wrote:  "I rejoiced with those who said to me, “Let us go to the house of the Lord.”  (Ps. 122:1)
    It is great to be able to start the new week off rejoicing.  We were able to go to church twice and it is truly a privilege.  Yesterday we had a great service - followed by a time of fellowship over food, a time to rejoice with others.  A time to pray with and for others.  It was great to start the week off in the house of the Lord. 
   It is great to start the day off with devotions, reading a passage from God's Word and then praying.
   May you-all have a blessed week -  

     What is your attitude when something bad happens to you?  In Romans 1:21 we read "For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him."  And in Philippians 4:6 we read:  "Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God." 
     Let me give a personal example.  For Christmas vacation, our family drove from Norfolk, VA to Pennsylvania to see my mother and father-in-law, and then we drove to New Jersey to see my mom.  We drove into NYC on the 23rd of December and then on the 24th we drove to Michigan to see my daughter and her family.  On the 30th of December we drove back from Michigan so my son could fly to South Africa on the 31st.  On the 4th of January our car would not start.  We had it towed to our mechanic, and he discovered that we had a bad fuel pump and that our radiator was split and was leaking coolant.  The gas tank had to be lowered, the fuel pump replaced, and we needed a new radiator.  All in all it cost us many, many dollars. 
    So what is our attitude?  Are we complainers?  I could have used the money to pay off some debts, but now I am further in debt.   Looking back I had to give thanks to God.  We could have had the fuel pump go out on Friday 30 December on the Pennsylvania Turnpike.  To get Philip home in time for his flight, we would have had to get towed to a garage and on the Pennsylvania Turnpike, the exits are often 30 miles apart.  Then we would have had to rent a car and where could we have found a rental car agency in the western part of Pennsylvania that would have been open on Friday night?  Then we would have had to drive home - 8 hours away, and Philip still had to unpack from the Christmas trip and pack for South Africa.  Then turn around later in the week and drive back and pick the van up.  Or we might have had the breakdown in NYC on Friday the 23th.  Then we would have had a towing to a garage, repair and thus we would have missed celebrating Christmas with my wife (who was already in Michigan) and my daughter and her family. 
     So I was and am very thankful that the van broke down at home, and not on the PA Turnpike or in NYC.  I am thankful that it broke down after my son had caught his international flight.  I am thankful that it broke down in our driveway, vice failing when my son was driving 70 MPH going up a hill with concrete barriers on one side, and heavy truck traffic.  I am thankful that I could get in fixed by my mechanic, whom I trust, and not by some other person.  I am thankful that I could get zero percent financing for the next six months.  So here is just one example of how to live with an attitude of thankfulness, and not whining, puleing, or complaining.
    The challenge is to always live a life of thanksgiving, even if it costs you money.

     One of my New Year's Resolutions was that I would faithfully write the blog every Sunday.  And here it is, three Sundays into the New Year, and not a single blog has been written.  I have failed.  Instead of three blogs posted, I have zero.  I had all the best intentions to write - I have had time off from work so there is no excuse.  Even this past weekend I had time.  I had three days of no work, and yet I failed to write a single word. So here it is Tuesday morning, and only now am I beginning to write - 17 days late.  And the New Year has just begun.  So first of all I want to apologize to my dear reader.
     Second, I want to say what a comfort we can draw that we know that while man is unfaithful, God is faithful.  We often read in the Old Testament about the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.  God is saying that He was faithful to those great saints, and He is going to be faithful to their descendents.  So let us rest in His arms, knowing that God is faithful.

     On 13 December 2011 my first grandson was born.  What a joy it is to hold him.  He was born into an uncertain world, and we do not know what the future will hold for him.  We pray that God will guide him and watch over him and protect him.  Samuel Andrew Vandermolen was born for a purpose - what it is, neither his parents nor his grandparents know.
     When Jesus Christ was born, He was born with a definite purpose. He was born to save.  In Luke 1:30-31 we read:  But the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, you have found favor with God.  You will be with child and give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus."  Jesus is Greek for Joshua which means Savior.  And in Matthew 1:21 we read:  "She will give birth to a son, and you are to give Him the name Jesus, because He will save His people from their sins." 
    So while the future of Samuel Andrew Vandermolen is unknown, we know why Jesus came to the earth.  He came to save His people from their sins.

     Have you noticed that the "Shopping Days till Christmas" is now "Days till Christmas"?  It used to be that there was no shopping on Sundays.  For example, if Christmas was on a Monday, the previous Thursday they would say "3 Shopping Days till Christmas."  The days would have been Thursday, Friday and  Saturday, with the stores closed on Sunday and the celebration of Christmas on Monday.  As a child I remembered taking my dime and biking to the store to buy a brother a chocolate bar for his Christmas present.  I distinctly remember doing it on a Saturday afternoon, realizing that the stores would be closed the next day.  But now that the fourth commandment is routinely violated, disregarded, ignored, and broken, in the above example there would be 4 Days till Christmas. 

   It is a shame that people are so interested in making a buck, that they don't sit down and rest.  They are certainly not in the churches on the Sundays before Christmas.  And even on Thanksgiving, the retail workers have to leave early to get to work at midnight.  Does America really need 365 shopping days per year?  Is there no rest for the worker?  Must the fast pace continue so fast that the families feel compelled to shop?  The much disparged Blue Laws protected the workers. 

     So let us observe Sundays as a day of rest.  Spend time in church with God and His family.  Then, visit a nursing home and spread good cheer.  And have a Merry Christmas.

The words of the song "Santa Claus is Coming to Town" are interesting:

    You better watch out!
    Better not cry!
    Better not pout!
    I'm telling you why,
    Santa Claus is comin' to town.

    He's making a list
    and checking it twice.
    He's going to find out who's naughty and nice.
    Santa Claus Is comin' to town.

    He sees when you're sleeping.
    He knows when you're awake.
    He knows if you've been bad or good.
    So be good for goodness sake!

    You better watch out!
    Better not cry!
    Better not pout!
    I'm telling you why,
    Santa Claus is comin' to town.

    Why is it that we spend more time thinking about Santa Claus than Christ?  Santa Claus, a mere mythical human, can judge the world and "He's going to find out who's naughty and nice."  Santa Claus as a judge is well known in the cartoons, whether it is Garfield or Curtis.  We sing about Santa Clause the Judge who gives gifts.  if you are good, you get presents and if  you are very good, you get lots and lots of presents, and only occasionally does he have to put coal in someone's stocking.   
     But we ignore at our own peril Jesus Christ who is coming back to judge the earth.  Because He is God,  He does not have to check the list twice and He already knows who is naughty and nice.  Further, when Jesus Christ returns, He will either bless us with His eternal presence (not presents) if we believe in Him or He will curse us for eternity if we don't believe in Him as our Savior. 

My prayer is that we confess our sins and repent and turn to Him.

Are you ready for Christmas?  Two weeks from today, Christmas arrives.  I remember playing hide and go seek as a child.  As I counted down, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, I would shout "Ready or not here I come!!"  Christmas arrives whether we are ready for it or not.  Most of us are scurrying around make preparations - Christmas cards being sent out, Christmas decorations being put up, manger sets being set out, Christmas trees being set up and decorated, and Christmas cookies and treats being baked.  Despite advance notice, Christmas sometime sneaks up on us.  Before we know it, Christmas is here. 
     Are you ready for Christ's Second Coming?  He has not announced when, but He has announced that He will surely come again.  Yet I fear that many of us will not be ready.  Unlike the Christmas celebration of today, we do not know the exact date.  But that does not mean that He won't come back.  He surely will come back.  So let us be prepared.

Two weeks ago today was Black Friday.  Two weeks and one day ago was Thanksgiving.  Unfortunately, the United States was focused on Black Friday and not Thanksgiving.  Thus, the Thanksgiving Day newspaper weighed several pounds with advertisements of sales and store opening hours.  That way the shoppers could plan the best route.  Target sent out e-mails to its customers titled "Black Friday Eve."  The retailers were looking at the strength of the sales.  In the rush, there was no discussion on how to give thanks, where to give thanks, and above all to Whom to give thanks.  God was pushed right out of the picture.  Instead of thanking God and giving Him praise for all the riches He has poured out on our country, on us, the focus was strictly on the riches.  Our newspaper had one small article on a Thanksgiving service.  But the rest of the paper was dedicated to shopping, shopping, shopping.
   Shame on us for not giving thanks to our Creator and Savior.  In Romans 1:21 we read:  "For although they knew God, they neither glorified Him as God nor gave thanks to Him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened."  Our thinking has become futile, and our hearts have been darkened. 
Prayer:  "Lord, forgive us for not glorifying and thanking You."

Last Tuesday, my boss's boss said to us workers:  "I thank you for all that you do."  Thus, for him, thanksgiving was a day to thank his workers.  When you type in "thanksgiving" and "Indian," the first Google search returns http://www.caffeinedestiny.com/tigiving.html.  On this website we read:  " At the end of their first year, the Puritans held a "harvest feast" celebrating the fruits of their farming efforts. The feast honored Squanto and their friends, the Wampanoag Indians. The feast was followed by three days of "thanksgiving" celebrating their good fortune."
    This is some great revisionist history.  What really happened is described to us in a letter from Edward Winslow:  "Our corn [i.e. wheat] did prove well, and God be praised, we had a good increase of Indian corn, and our barley indifferent good, but our peas not worth the gathering, for we feared they were too late sown.  They came up very well, and blossomed, but the sun parched them in the blossom.  Our harvest being gotten in, our governor sent four men on fowling, that so we might after a special manner rejoice together after we had gathered the fruit of our labors.  They four in one day killed as much fowl as, with a little help beside, served the company almost a week.  At which time, amongst other recreations, we exercised our arms, many of the Indians coming amongst us, and among the rest their greatest king Massasoit, with some ninety men, whom for three days we entertained and feasted, and they went out and killed five deer, which they brought to the plantation and bestowed on our governor, and upon the captain and others.  And although it be not always so plentiful as it was at this time with us, yet by the goodness of God, we are so far from want that we often wish you partakers of our plenty."
Note the following differences:
1.)  Winslow states emphatically "Praise be to God" not "Praise be to Squanto."  In fact, Squanto is not even mentioned by name.
2.)  Winslow and his countrymen were Pilgrims, not Puritans.
3.)  Winslow never mentions "good fortune."  He specifically mentions the "goodness of God."

So the question to you dear reader, is to whom do you give thanks?  Yourself for being such a good guy?  to your boss for providing work or to your workers?  Or to God, from Whom all blessings flow?

Please take time to read what Abraham Lincoln has written.  It is an excellent read, and thought provoking.  He writes "They [prosperity despite the War] are the gracious gifts of the Most High God, who, while dealing with us in anger for our sins, hath nevertheless remembered mercy."  Do we believe that our nation has sinned?

     The year that is drawing toward its close has been filled with the blessings of fruitful fields and healthful skies. To these bounties, which are so constantly enjoyed that we are prone to forget the source from which they come, others have been added which are of so extraordinary a nature that they can not fail to penetrate and soften even the heart which is habitually insensible to the ever -watchful providence of Almighty God.
     In the midst of a civil war of unequaled magnitude and severity, which has sometimes seemed to foreign states to invite and to provoke their aggression, peace has been preserved with all nations, order has been maintained, the laws have been respected and obeyed, and harmony has prevailed everywhere, except in the theater of military conflict, while that theater has been greatly contracted by the advancing armies and navies of the Union. Needful diversions of wealth and of strength from the fields of peaceful industry to the national defense have not arrested the plow, the shuttle, or the ship; the ax has enlarged the borders of our settlements, and the mines, as well of iron and coal as of the precious metals, have yielded even more abundantly than heretofore. Population has steadily increased notwithstanding the waste that has been made in the camp, the siege, and the battlefield, and the country, rejoicing in the consciousness of augmented strength and vigor, is permitted to expect continuance of years with large increase of freedom.
    No human counsel hath devised nor hath any mortal hand worked out these great things.  They are the gracious gifts of the Most High God, who, while dealing with us in anger for our sins, hath nevertheless remembered mercy.  It has seemed to me fit and proper that they should be solemnly, reverently, and gratefully acknowledged, as with one heart and one voice, by the whole American people. I do therefore invite my fellow-citizens in every part of the United States, and also those who are at sea and those who are sojourning in foreign lands, to set apart and observe the last Thursday of November next as a day of thanksgiving and praise to our beneficent Father who dwelleth in the heavens. And I recommend to them that while offering up the ascriptions justly due to Him for such singular deliverances and blessings they do also, with humble penitence for our national perverseness and disobedience, commend to His tender care all those who have become widows, orphans, mourners, or sufferers in the lamentable civil strife in which we are unavoidably
engaged, and fervently implore the interposition of the Almighty hand to heal the wounds of the
nation and to restore if, as soon as may be consistent with the divine purpose, to the full
enjoyment of peace, harmony, tranquillity, and union. 
    In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand and caused the seal of the United States to be affixed.
Done at the city of Washington, this 3d day of October A.D. 1863, and of the Independence of the United States the eighty-eighth.
ABRAHAM LINCOLN

NOTE: Abraham Lincoln issued Thanksgiving Proclamations in the spring of 1862 and the spring of 1863; both proclamations gave thanks for victories in battle. Lincoln's Thanksgiving Proclamation in the autumn of 1863 - the second Thanksgiving Proclamation in that year - gave thanks for the general blessings of the year. This second 1863 Thanksgiving Proclamation, the first in the unbroken string of annual Thanksgiving proclamations, is regarded as the true beginning of the national Thanksgiving holiday. (Pilgrim Hall Museum)

Today we celebrate Veterans Day or Armistice Day.  On the 11 November 18 the war to end all wars concluded.   Over eight million soldiers died (http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/FWWdeaths.htm).  But the war to end all wars did not end the wars.  Wars continued year after year.  Another World War, and still more deaths. Then there was the Korean War, the Vietnam war, Desert Storm I and II, etc.  Just yesterday the country of Sudan bombed a refugee camp in the newly formed country of South Sudan.  The Taliban mortars US forces and continues to plant improvised explosive devices.
Two take-aways -
1.  The wars and rumors of war confirm that Jesus is coming.  In Matthew 24: 4-8 we read:  "Jesus answered: “Watch out that no one deceives you.  For many will come in my name, claiming, ‘I am the Messiah,’ and will deceive many.  You will hear of wars and rumors of wars, but see to it that you are not alarmed. Such things must happen, but the end is still to come.  Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be famines and earthquakes in various places.  All these are the beginning of birth pains."
2.   The war to end all wars will not happen with earthly forces.  In Revelation 19:11-20 we read:  I saw heaven standing open and there before me was a white horse, whose rider is called Faithful and True.  With justice he judges and wages war.  His eyes are like blazing fire, and on his head are many crowns. He has a name written on him that no one knows but he himself.   He is dressed in a robe dipped in blood, and his name is the Word of God.  The armies of heaven were following him, riding on white horses and dressed in fine linen, white and clean.  Coming out of his mouth is a sharp sword with which to strike down the nations. “He will rule them with an iron scepter.” He treads the winepress of the fury of the wrath of God Almighty.  On his robe and on his thigh he has this name written:   KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS. . . Then I saw the beast and the kings of the earth and their armies gathered together to wage war against the rider on the horse and his army.  But the beast was captured, and with it the false prophet who had performed the signs on its behalf. With these signs he had deluded those who had received the mark of the beast and worshiped its image. The two of them were thrown alive into the fiery lake of burning sulfur."
Thus, the LORD Jesus Christ will in the last day defeat Satan and conquer him.  Only when Satan is defeated and cast into the lake of burning sulfur will true and everlasting peace reign.  President Woodrow Wilson was naive when he thought he could bring peace on earth.  Only Jesus Christ can do that.

      As most of you know, Steve Jobs was an anti-authoritarian.  He was widely praised by the press for questioning the pastor at 13 when he saw starving children on the cover of Life magazine.  Because the pastor could not give a satisfactory answer, the brilliant child rejected what he had been taught, Christianity.  He did not follow the norm, and dropped out of college after only one semester.  He rejected the convention of meals, and became a vegetarian.  (He also rejected the norm of bathing and he stank so bad that he was forced to work at nights, but that is another story.)  He rejected the norms of society and fathered a daughter out of wedlock.  This anti-authoritarian was one to go head-to-head against Microsoft,
    But was Steve Jobs really that anti-authoritarian?  Not really if one looks at how he ran his own company.  He wanted those who worked for him to give him 100% of their life.  For example, he was known to call up even his suppliers in the middle of the night (3 A.M.) and asked them detailed questions about their product.
    So before we lift Steve Jobs up as the ultimate anti-authoritarian, we must recognize that once he was in power, he was very controlling.  That is the same with the devil.  The devil tempts us to rebel against God.  But like Adam and Eve, we realize that the freedom from God means just that we have traded a kind Master for an evil tyrant.  We will always have a master.  You must choose if it is God or the devil whom you want to serve.
[Thanks to Rob Bradford for getting me to think on this one.]

Have you ever thought what a privilege it is to pray to God?  I talk to my boss (who is 180 miles away) about once a month I talk to his boss about once every three months.  I have met my boss's boss's boss once and he would not know me from Adam.  I have met my boss's boss's boss's boss once about four years ago.  I think she knows my name, but that is all. 
What a privilege it is to be able to pray directly to God - my boss - Who loves me and listens to me, not just about work conditions, but about everything - food on the table, to helping my wife through math exams to healing.  Not only that, but He sent His Son to take away my sin so I can worship Him forever in heaven.  My boss's boss's boss's boss can't do that.
What a great God we have.

Man does exceptionally poorly in predicting the future.  As Yogi Berra said "It's tough to make predictions, especially about the future."  For example, at the beginning of the year, it was predicted that the Red Sox would be the American League East champions.  They were supposed to win a 102 games and it was widely assumed by many that they would win the World Series.  They had all the best pitching, etc., but they ended up in third place in the American League.  The Yankees had the best record in the American League, but they did not beat the Tigers, although they consistently beat the Tigers during the regular season.  And now the Philadelphia Phillies, with the best record in baseball, do not advance.  They were beaten by a wild card team.
Man does poorly predicting the future.  But God not only knows but also controls the future.  For example, He predicted that Jesus would be born in Bethlehem more than six hundred years before He was born.  And He predicted that Cyrus would rise up and send the Jews home from the Babylonian captivity.  Cyrus is an interesting name because Cyrus means shepherd.  Isaiah has a beautiful play on words:  "Cyrus, He is my shepherd."   Isaiah wrote about 150 years before Cyrus came to the throne.  Further, Cyrus is a Persian name, and at the time Isaiah made his prediction, Persia was a small country of insignificance. 
In conclusion, man is awful at making predictions.  God makes predictions and they always come true because He is God.

Steve Jobs, founder of Apple computer, is dead.  He was a genius in making life better for me.  Just last year, I bought myself an iPod, and it has greatly improved the quality of life while traveling.  Listening to my music while flying is so much better than listening to the airline's one hour of music over and over and over.  Now I can listen to a much greater variety of music - Gregorian chants are not often (ever?) offered on the airlines.  Nor is Victory at Sea. 
Steve Jobs and I were both born in the same month of the same year - but he was far more innovative than I was, and he earned more money in one year than I will ever earn in a lifetime.  But the real question is what of the afterlife? 
In Acts 4:11-12 we read "Jesus is 'the stone you builders rejected, which has become the cornerstone.' Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to mankind by which we must be saved.”
So the question that God will ask Steve Jobs is "Do you believe in Jesus Christ as your Savior?"  Hint:  that question is based on what occurs on earth, not when you are before the Judge.  So no matter how great a man Steve Jobs was, no matter what his brilliance was in making superb products, no matter how much money he earned or gave away, no matter how he loved his wife and three children, the real question comes down to "Do you believe in Jesus Christ as your Savior?" for salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name given to mankind by which we must be saved.  That is the question.  This is an open book exam.  How well will you do?

  Today is a special day in our household.  My youngest son celebrated his 14th birthday today.  It is also 35 years ago that I met my wife.  Little did I know that when I met her, that I would marry her.  I had attended a Christian college, with over 2,000 blond Dutch girls there.  In His wisdom, the Lord closed the door.  So I completed my navy training and was commissioned on 24 September 1976.  Then the next night, I went to a fund raising dinner hosted by the New York International Bible Society (now the International Bible Society).  And it was there that I met my red-headed wife 35 years ago.  God knows better than I do who was best for me.  Humanly speaking, I went to college with 2,000 Christian girls, yet I could not find my wife.  I joined the navy, and the very day after I was commissioned, I met my future wife.  In his infinite wisdom, God provided me a wife, when I needed a wife.  Kathy has been a blessing to me.

Coram Deo is a Latin phrase that means "before the face of God."  R.C. Sproul uses this phrase in his publications at Ligonier Ministries, and the below is taken from his website:  http://www.ligonier.org/blog/what-does-coram-deo-mean/
      He writes "To live coram Deo is to live one’s entire life in the presence of God, under the authority of God, to the glory of God.  To live in the presence of God is to understand that whatever we are doing and wherever we are doing it, we are acting under the gaze of God.  God is omnipresent.  There is no place so remote that we can escape His penetrating gaze. . .
    The Christian who compartmentalizes his or her life into two sections of the religious and the nonreligious has failed to grasp the big idea. The big idea is that all of life is religious or none of life is religious. To divide life between the religious and the nonreligious is itself a sacrilege.
    This means that if a person fulfills his or her vocation as a steelmaker, attorney, or homemaker coram Deo, then that person is acting every bit as religiously as a soul-winning evangelist who fulfills his vocation. It means that David was as religious when he obeyed God’s call to be a shepherd as he was when he was anointed with the special grace of kingship. It means that Jesus was every bit as religious when He worked in His father’s carpenter shop as He was in the Garden of Gethsemane."
     As I wrote last time on labor, all labor is good labor.  All must be done to the glory of God as He is indeed sovereign over all of our life.  We must obey God in all aspects of life.  We must "act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with [y]our God" (Micah 6:8).

    Today is Labor Day - a day to celebrate work.  (Please also read my Aug 08 post on Labor Day).  John Calvin is rightly heralded as the man that changed the thinking of the world in relationship to work.  And because of this new attitude, the Western world began to lead all other continents.  John Calvin wrote in The Institutes of Christian Religion:  "The Lord bids each one of us in all life's actions to look to His calling."  In other words, each one of us has a calling.  In English we use the word "vocation."  According to Webster: from Latin vocation-, vocatio summons, from vocare to call, from vox voice.  According to Webster a vocation is a “summons.”  Two examples from Webster are “This isn't just a job for me; it's a vocation” and “He never felt a real sense of vocation.”  A job is something you do.  A vocation is a calling by God to a certain work.
    Traditionally, vocation was restricted to God’s calling to the ministry.  Webster says: “especially : a divine call to the religious life.”   But Calvin contended that all of us have a vocation, a calling to a specific task.  Vocations was no longer just a calling to go into religious work.  In other words, being a pastor or a priest is not a higher calling than being a trash collector or a janitor.  He goes on to say: “It is enough if we know that the Lord’s calling is in everything the beginning and foundation of well-doing. . . .  From this will arise also a singular consolation: that no task will be so sordid and base, provided you obey your calling in it, that it will not shine and be reckoned very precious in God’s sight.” 
    Simply put: follow God’s calling and you will be happy in your vocation and no vocation is more important than other vocations.