Jeff Rendell
Jeff Rendell's Story
Wealthy Pursuits
At the end of the year, sure enough, I got a great bonus and a healthy raise. That satisfied me for about a week. . .
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It was my first job after college with a big accounting firm. I was working like crazy but treated really well. All year I heard about how we worked hard, but at the end of the year, we would get a large bonus and a great raise. At the end of the year, sure enough, I got a great bonus and a healthy raise. That satisfied me for about a week. Then I started wondering about my raise and bonus for the next year.
Because of this, I realized that I could live my whole life just going after more and more, that all the money in the world would never be enough to satisfy me. I realized that I was hoping in something woefully insufficient.
The hardest/worst part was when I felt kind of helpless. I had become a Christian years before, but I now felt that I had replaced Christ with other priorities, especially becoming wealthy and successful. I knew that something was out of whack.
If I had kept going down this road, I basically would have been living my whole life for something that wasn't going to satisfy me, and for something that was going to be gone in 20, 30, 40, or 50 years, whenever I died. I would have wasted a good part of my life going after the wrong things.
I saw God working in the situation when He reopened my eyes to the fact that Jesus Christ was the only true and eternal source of satisfaction in my life. I began to realize that my goals for my life were out of line with His will for my life. He showed me through the Bible and through relationships with others that He was so much greater and bigger than the small little things I was hoping in.
Over the next couple years, the Holy Spirit really worked on my heart and basically freed me up from being enslaved to money and success. I was freer in giving to others. And for the first time, I began to think about God's will for my life without making money a factor. In December 2002, I quit my job and joined the staff of Campus Crusade for Christ. By a lot of people's standards, this was a foolish move - my chances for money and "success" decreased dramatically.
Since then, things have been really good. It can be hard to think about how comfortable I was in the business world, making good money, etc. And I know that there's nothing wrong with being in business (I have a ton of respect for people that are in the business world and make God their priority). But God has totally provided for all my needs! In my new job, I have so many opportunities to see God do amazing things in peoples' lives.. right before my eyes! I don't regret it one bit.