Core Scripture: “Work hard so you can present yourself to God and receive his approval. Be a good worker, one who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly explains the word of truth.” (2 Timothy 2:15)

Message: I wear the vest. 

At Amazon, vests are all about status.  Fluorescent yellow vests are striped with different colors representing your position.  Blue signifies Learning Ambassador.  Orange shows Process Assistant.  Green supports the Safety Team.  And red tops it off as a Manager. 

Me?  Having achieved my blue vest over a year ago, I have been shooting for the next step up: orange.  An orange vest at Amazon is basically an Assistant Manager.  You have more supervision over new hires and L1 Associates, but you still get your hands dirty.  I have been aspiring to achieve this role for some time.

Last night, it finally happened.  I was given my orange vest and accepted my new role as an Intern Process Assistant.  Putting that vest on was a testimony to the work I had put in over the past two years to prove myself worthy.  And I have to say that it gave me a bit of a pep in my step as I showed it off to my colleagues.

All right, Clint.  Time for a heart check. 

Are you really so naïve that you think the color of your vest makes you that much more impressive?  Are you using your status to help colleagues or to show your power over them?  Most importantly, what image are you projecting to others?  Do others see Christ in you, humbly serving and encouraging others?  Or do they see a man leveraging his vest color in pride?

There is only one way to analyze these questions, and that is through scripture.  First, God appreciates hard work, but He wants your work to be for His glory, not to impress others.  Colossians 3:23 says, “Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men.”  I hope my orange vest gives me the platform to openly give that glory to God.  Not to pound my chest in pride. 

Secondly, I need to realize that nothing I do earns me a place in heaven.  I am still a sinner (Romans 3:23), and I will always be in desperate need of a Savior in Jesus Christ.  Hard work, patience, humility, serving others … these traits are all well and good, but only if you have the right heart in mind.  Paul explains this so well in Ephesians 2:8-10.

“God saved you by his grace when you believed. And you can’t take credit for this; it is a gift from God. Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done, so none of us can boast about it. For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago.”

My salvation is a testimony of God’s grace.  There is nothing I did to earn it.  Jesus died for me freely.  As a matter of fact, God loved me so much that He sent Jesus as a sacrifice for me, allowing me to live out His glorious plan.  This plan was in place before I was even born.  How crazy is that?

Finally, I must realize that humility and pride are mortal enemies.  Humility means serving, putting others before myself, and deflecting any ounce of glory back to the One who made me.  I should be wearing that orange vest in hopes that my new status will show others who Jesus is.

What does that mean?  It means encouraging someone when they are down.  Speaking loving truth when someone falls short.  Helping out when leaving someone high and dry would be easier.  It means taking time to seek a genuine interest in others on break as opposed to scrolling my phone.

In Philippians 2:3-4 Paul writes, “Don’t be selfish; don’t try to impress others. Be humble, thinking of others as better than yourselves. Don’t look out only for your own interests, but take an interest in others, too.”  As we live this out, others will begin to have a genuine encounter with Jesus.  All because we chose to show them a bit of Him through the way we treat others. 

Christians are different.  They choose love over hate.  They serve instead of expecting to be served.  They embrace patience over anger.  Work over laziness.  Peace over conflict.  Humility over pride.  That uniqueness shines bright, piercing the darkness of the world around us. 

The path to get my orange vest was not easy.  I faced rejection numerous times, watching friends snatch these positions before the vest was finally passed to me.  I must admit that there was a bit of jealousy clouding my heart as I watched them get promoted.  My mind kept wondering what I was doing wrong.  I wanted MY piece of the pie. 

You know what?  I was being sucked in to the selfish notion that getting an orange vest made me somebody.  Truth is that vest colors don’t really mean anything.  They will all fade into nothing years down the road.  The supposed treasure found in an orange vest can best be explained by Jesus’s words here …

“For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” (Matthew 6:21)

My treasure comes not from the status of my vest or how many packages I stow.  My treasure lies in Jesus.  He is the perfect reason for everything. 

Challenge: Evaluate an area of your life where you might be tempted to be prideful.  Ask God if your heart needs to be cleansed from negativity, pride, or jealousy.  Allow the soothing grace of Jesus Christ to be the healing balm to all your problems. 

Bible study: Read the following scriptures and connect them to the theme through journaling or discussion …

• “Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own. But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 3:13-14)
• “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” (Matthew 6:19-21)
• “But he gives more grace. Therefore, it says, ‘God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.’” (James 4:6)
• “Don’t you realize that in a race everyone runs, but only one person gets the prize? So run to win! All athletes are disciplined in their training. They do it to win a prize that will fade away, but we do it for an eternal prize.” (1 Corinthians 9:24-25)

Just for fun: This Halloween joke actually fits our theme today quite well!

Prayer: Lord, thank you so much for Your love!  Help me realize that Jesus is my reason for everything, and there is nothing I can do to earn Your grace.  Amen.