[Note: This post was rescued from being deleted on my local congregational website, along with a few others.]

As believers in the Bible, we often muse about the sort of jobs that we will have in the Kingdom of God. Some people have speculated about how many cities they or others would rule, others try to imagine the sort of society that would exist in the millennial rule of Jesus Christ, whether it would be agricultural or whether it would have a substantial urban life such as we now know with high technology and culture for those who are not enamored with farming. From such scriptures as John:14:1-4 we see ourselves as dwelling and working with Jesus Christ: “Let not your heart be troubled; you believe in God, believe also in Me. In my Father’s house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself, that where I am, there you may be also. And where I go you know, and the way you know.”

In understanding that God has a variety of jobs and tasks for believers, which we see properly as including civil and religious government as the kings and priests of the Most High God (we read passages like 1 Peter:2:9-10, Exodus:19:5-6, 1 Corinthians:6:1-9, Luke:19:11-27, and Matthew:25:14-30, to name a few, which show some hint of our future job tasks and their honor), it is important to ask ourselves and try to answer from the pages of scripture a serious question: what is God looking for from us? We would not expect to receive a job in this world for ruling over a small department, much less several cities, without expecting to see a demanding list of job qualifications. Even modest job positions in our present world often have daunting job requirements that may require substantial education and experience and skills. What exactly does God want from us?

There are several passages (Deuteronomy:10:12-21 and Micah:6:8 among them) that give answers, and one of the most complete of those answers of the ideal job candidate for a king and priest within the Kingdom of God may be found in Psalm:15:2-5a: “He who walks uprightly, and works righteosuness, and speaks the truth in his heart; he who does not backbite with his tongue, nor does evil to his neighbor, nor does he take up a reproach against his friend; in whose eyes a vile person is despised, but he knows those who fear the ETernal; he who swears to his own hurt and does not change; he who does not put out his money at usury, nor does he take a bribe against the innocent.”

We may see from this passage that God belongs to the sort of employer who is vastly more interested in the character of those who are to be in His workforce than He is in their skills and talents and abilities. The technical skills and abilities that our society values so highly are of less pressing importance to God than the character of the person. Skills can be taught, abilities can be given, since God is in control of His universe and His creation. However, beings with free will (like human beings) get to shape our own character through our decisions and our choices, and God cannot develop character by fiat. So, therefore, God chooses those who have high character and have chosen to follow His way in obedience to Him and in love for others. This love for others is not merely in theory or in emotion, but through acts of justice and equity and kindness to others, and especially in avoiding opportunities to exploit and take advantage of the vulnerable. If we can master our character and build it up through a lifetime of obedience and love, then we too can look forward to the offices and mansions that have been prepared for us in the Kingdom of Heaven.