I love my job but it’s always hard going back to work after some time off. Most of us enjoyed a long weekend. I took some vacation and extended that weekend into a full week. But I have to go back to work today. Maybe if I had one of these biblical jobs I wouldn’t mind the end of a vacation as much.
Tax Collector
Life in the ancient world seemed really difficult. I don’t know how anyone survived the harsh summers in the Middle East without the advent of central air. Having a job as a tax collector, though, would probably have made it more bearable. Tax collectors simply had to walk around from house to house and shop to shop, collecting taxes for their governments. It would have been a good opportunity to get to know the community and then extort them for all they had. Sure it might be immoral, but stealing from your neighbors seems like a small price to pay to increase your standard of living.
Cupbearer
I reached a certain point in my life when I decided I didn’t want to drink generic cola ever again. I’m an adult and I earn enough money to buy actual Coke. I imagine kings and pharaohs feel the same way about their beverages but to a much more extravagant extent. Being the cupbearer for the king comes with some inherent risk. If someone is going to attempt to assassinate the king with poison, the cupbearer is the last line of defense. Sure, you may get poisoned as the cupbearer but you’ll also get to taste the best beverages in the world. If you were going to get poisoned at least it wouldn’t be while drinking two-buck Chuck.
Fisherman
Youth pastoring isn’t very blue-collar work. Sometimes I’m outdoors moving stuff and doing physical labor. Most of the time, though, I’m sitting in meetings or doing work at Starbucks. Life as a fisherman doesn’t seem very easy; it looks like backbreaking, difficult work. However, I would enjoy spending my days outdoors on the sea. I don’t have a boat but I enjoy being on boats. I’ve never gotten seasick and the sea air helps me think more clearly and deeply. As Henry Wadsworth Longfellow put it:
My soul is full of longing
for the secret of the sea,
and the heart of the great ocean
sends a thrilling pulse through me.
I really do love my job. I am doing exactly what I was called to do. However, like most people, I love vacation as well. Hopefully we all have jobs where we feel like God is using us, even if we’re happy to take some time away from them.
What biblical job would you like to have?
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