“All men die; not all men truly live.”

I think I know why I don’t want a career. I don’t want to spend my life chasing after money, and what is a career but a means in which you chase after more and more money. The goal of any successful career is to climb higher and higher in the career field, getting more and more money. To be successful, it seems like one must devote themselves to a career, where the career consumes most of your life. I don’t want that. I don’t want money, or the pursuit of money, to consume most of my life. It all seems so pointless to do so. Why devote myself to a career that I won’t really enjoy, trying to get more and more money, get higher and higher up the ladder, just for…..what? A bigger house, a nicer car, better clothes? Yes, I wouldn’t mind having a nicer car, a bigger house, or nicer clothes, but I don’t want those things if it means that I must devote myself to some worthless career. So what then? Does that mean that I am going to spend my life adventuring, traveling, or some other endeavor found in books and movies? No, for I must conclude that those things are as meaningless as a career is, albeit a lot more fun. The only thing I can find with meaning is God, everything apart from Him, every endeavor I may undertake is nothing in the face of serving God, letting Him live through me. Therefore, shouldn’t I devote my life to serving Him, not pursuing some pointless career? He says that He will provide all I need so long as I pursue first His kingdom and His righteousness, so it would seem like I have very little need of a career of any kind, so long as I devote myself to God.

Thinking about this though, it all seems so radical. Who do I know who actually lives like this? Everyone I know, at least almost everyone I know, spends most of their time pursuing their chosen career path, worrying about paying the bills, putting food on the table, saving enough for retirement, putting the kids through college, and those who don’t do that seem to try to pursue some other thing, such as traveling, adventuring or a family. So am I just crazy? If this is truly what I should be doing, then why does it seem like no one else is doing it? Most will probably say that I am simply an idealistic fool, ignoring the harsh realities of life. I know many will also say that I will regret not pursuing a career right out of college, saying that 10-20 years down the road I will want more money, I will want to be higher up the ladder, be more successful. They may be right. I am still young and cannot predict how I will feel 10-20 years from now. What I do know is that I don’t want to wake up 30 years from now and realize that I have spent my life pointlessly while I could have been living my life with meaning, with God. I think that feeling would be much worse than realizing that I am not as rich as I could have been if I had just started a career earlier. What amount of money, what amount of success, could compare with being a servant of the God of the universe, the one who created me, the one who saved me? Could any house, any car, any article of clothing compare with such a thing? Could any amount of money really make me better off? I don’t think so.