Hey everyone,

I probably don’t have to tell you that day jobs are awful. Except for the lucky few who get to do what they love for the living, the rest of us suffer to make ends meet. Thankfully the internet has made it so the hobbies we enjoy can (lord willing) become our new income source.

It’s no secret that most of us don’t enjoy our jobs, or at least don’t enjoy them anymore. Whether its due to the repetitive nature of the job, a series of poor management decisions, poor managers, conflict with coworkers, poor working conditions, or any combination of those or more reasons. We only seem to stick around due to some level of insanity keeping us there (plus the fear of not having a paycheck next week).

I’m proposing that day jobs are not just bad, but literally tools of the Devil. (notice the capital there, yeah I mentioned that guy).

What do you enjoy? Is it working out? Coaching little league, writing, painting, sketching, flying, hunting, watching sports, playing sports, martial arts, etc. Odds are you don’t do any of those for a living, instead they are likely your hobbies. Why is that? Well at some point you probably decided you needed money, so you got a job. How is it that made these things you enjoy a hobby instead of your source of income?

Ease perhaps? Most things we enjoy are difficult to make a living off of. Don’t get me wrong some lucky people out there manage to do what they love, and I have nothing but respect for them… well that and perhaps a small dose of envy.

Your day job makes your hobby possible though right? Maybe yes, maybe no. Lets go to writing since this is an author blog of course.

My job makes it so I can self publish, grants me the ability to fund the process, and all that. But what is the cost?

The single biggest reason day jobs are the devil is they suck out your “prime time” in exchange for money. You likely adjust your sleeping schedule, and probably many parts of your life around your work schedule. This makes it so you tend to be alert and at your highest cognitive capacity while on the job.  In the creative world its an expression that your job taking this time away from you can “suck out the soul” of your creativity.

On top of that, jobs take up time, emotional endurance, and energy. That is why most of us are quite busy if and when we are able to take a vacation. We are so used to using all our energy for work that when we have it available we can’t seem to actually relax anymore.

Work is a good thing. It gives you structure, a value to your efforts, and results in the long term. When you are only working at a “day job” you tend to be working a second job too (even if you don’t really get paid for that work).

So what is the point of this rant? Well, when your job gets you down, and you don’t feel like you have the time or energy to do the things you enjoy anymore; its time to look up. God created work, so work is good for you. The “day job” is a tool made by the Devil to drain you so you don’t feel like worshiping God anymore. A twisted version that makes us feel like work is a curse and not a blessing.

God knows you, like seriously knows you, your secrets, thoughts, emotions, the things you like and the things you hate. He also knows what will bring you joy, which is far deeper of an emotion than happiness. Joy doesn’t leave when things get hard, it has roots like a tree that run deep into your soul. Happiness is like the icing on the cake, it tastes sweet but can easily be scraped off. Often when we are miserable we don’t remember that God has our best interests in mind, after all he sees the end of the book before our lives are written.

I don’t normally do this on here, but this feels like the right time. You see, if you want joy you won’t find it in your hobbies, work, day job, family, friends, food, or whatever else you try to fill that void in your heart with. That hole is left by your dead spirit. When we were born, it was without the spirit we were meant to have. We have a body and a soul, but the spirit is where we were connected to God. Sin, which is just rebellion against God nothing more, tore out that spirit from us long before anyone could write.

That is why God sent his son Jesus. To teach us, to show us how to live, not for ourselves but for God first and others second. Then he did something that we could never do. He paid for our sins. The payment for sins is death, and so while he was without sin he died so that we might live sinless through him. This is a payment, on our behalf. Which is why you have to accept it, and choose to follow Jesus. When you accept him as your savior, and choose to serve him the Holy Spirit (aka the Holy Ghost) comes to dwell inside you. It fills that hole, and connects you back to God the way we were meant to be. So Joy is back in your life once you have done this, and it is awesome.

That is what salvation is. It isn’t a list of rules, in fact Jesus only gave us two “commandments”. Love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your mind, and all your soul. The second commandment was to treat others the way you want to be treated, well actually more like to love others like you wish to be loved. Those are the basis of all those old rules and laws in the beginning chapters of the bible. They are not meant to take good things away from you, but rather to remove unnecessary pain from your life. God doesn’t promise us an easy life, but rather a life filled with Joy and one where we will never be truly alone again.

Well that is all the ranting I can do today. Until next time, may God bless you and keep you.