--- id: 20180601_worthwhile_ideas_about_life title: BLOG - Worthwhile Ideas About Life! category: Biblical Life Counsel predicted_narrative_arc: personal-confession-to-biblical-priority sentiment: Convictional emotions: - Reflective - Hopeful - Challenging keypoints: - Dean once thought real enjoyment of life waited until work pressure was gone - True pleasure comes from time with people you love - A Colorado family week revealed riches in love over executive striving - Colossians 3:23 reframes work as for the Lord, not human masters - He urges readers to change schedule now — prioritize God and loved ones before age forces the lesson summary: > Dean Rush confesses he once believed true enjoyment of life waited until work pressures ended, then corrects himself: real pleasure is time with people you love. Recalling a Colorado week of hiking and family laughter, he regrets years spent proving himself as an executive and calls readers to change their schedules now — citing Colossians 3:23 so work is offered to the Lord, with higher priority on God and loved ones than on a boss's approval. tags: - blog - policy - work-life - family - colossians-3 - priorities - happiness - executive-life - biblical-wisdom - dean-rush sycophancy: 0 truth_score: 8 entropy: 3 sample: false consent: owner_approved agent: blog created: '2018-06-01' updated: '2026-09-09T00:00:00Z' vault_stage: 07_CODEX headwaters: BLOG prefix: BLOG enrich_status: ok enrich_blockers: [] enrich_method: manual pipeline_filename: BLOG_2018-06-01_worthwhile-ideas-about-life.md source_kind: blog_article proposed_topic: Wisdom lane: Wisdom voice: desk active_voice: desk voices: - desk routing_source: carbon corpus_topic: Wisdom content_status: active date: '2018-06-01' share_url: https://deanrush.net/blog/worthwhile-ideas-about-life source_url: https://deanrush.net/blog/worthwhile-ideas-about-life site_category: Policy archive_month: 2018-06 description: > Dean rethinks happiness as presence with loved ones rather than the end of work pressure, and presses Colossians 3:23 as the cue to reorder schedule toward God and family before age teaches the same lesson the hard way. --- # Worthwhile Ideas About Life! **Author:** Dean Rush **Original post:** [deanrush.net/blog/worthwhile-ideas-about-life](https://deanrush.net/blog/worthwhile-ideas-about-life) **Archive month:** June 2018 · **Site category:** Policy > Voice note: Everything under **Dean's article** is Dean's original prose (lightly cleaned of HTML/image artifacts only). Sections marked **Biblical foundations**, **Scholar sidebar**, **Takeaways**, and **First-time learner** are enrichment for Asker / first readers — not Dean speaking. --- ## Biblical foundations (preface) Dean names a common trap — postponing joy until the inbox is empty — and answers it with Scripture he already quotes: work heartily as for the Lord, not for human masters (Colossians 3:23). The enrichment below does not replace his confession or challenge; it shows the wider biblical frame that makes his counsel coherent for someone opening a Bible for the first time. | Dean's claim | Scriptural undercarriage | | --- | --- | | Real pleasure is presence with people you love | It is not good for man to be alone (Genesis 2:18); rejoice with those who rejoice (Romans 12:15) | | Family investment outranks executive self-proving | Husbands/fathers bear household care (Ephesians 5:25; 6:4); a man's life does not consist in abundance of possessions (Luke 12:15) | | Work is unto the Lord, not ultimately unto a boss | Colossians 3:23–24; whatever you do, do all to the glory of God (1 Corinthians 10:31) | | Change the schedule now, before age forces the lesson | Teach us to number our days (Psalm 90:12); redeem the time (Ephesians 5:15–16) | --- ## Dean's article ![Work / desk image from Dean's original post](https://deanrush.net/Portals/0/images/article/3_work-2005640_640.jpg) ### The Gift of True Happiness! I used to believe that you were limited to truly enjoying life when there was nothing else to do at work and there were no longer pressures from a job. Guess what, I was wrong. Real pleasure comes from being able to spend time with people you love. > **Scholar sidebar — Joy is not a retirement benefit** > Scripture never ties gladness of heart to an empty calendar. Ecclesiastes 3:12–13 says there is nothing better than to rejoice and do good, and that eating, drinking, and finding enjoyment in toil is God's gift — *in* the days of labor, not only after them. Psalm 16:11 locates fullness of joy in God's presence. Dean's correction — pleasure is people you love, not the end of pressure — sits inside that anthropology: relationships are not a reward for finishing the spreadsheet; they are part of the life God designed. ### Memories That Count About this time Last summer, we spent a week in Colorado hiking, laughing with family, and realizing we were rich in love. If I had been the smartest guy in the world (and that is far from a valid description of me), I would have taken the opportunity many years ago to invest more time with my family and less time trying to be a good executive. > **Scholar sidebar — Rich in love, not résumé** > Proverbs 15:17 says a dinner of herbs where love is beats a fattened ox with hatred. Psalm 127:1–2 warns that unless the Lord builds the house, laborers build in vain — and that God gives sleep to His beloved, not endless anxious striving. Dean's Colorado memory is a lived parable of that wisdom: the hike and the laughter exposed a wealth that executive striving could not mint. His regret is not anti-work; it is anti-idolatry of the title. ### It Is Time For Change! My prayer is that if you are reading this short article, you will immediately change your schedule. We are told in Colossians 3:23, "Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters…" Paul was telling us to place a higher priority on working for God and the approval of your loved ones than your boss at work. Drill that thought into your brain and then place it on a sign on your desk. > **Scholar sidebar — Colossians 3:23 and the desk sign** > In context, Colossians 3:22–24 addresses bondservants: obey earthly masters, but work "heartily, as for the Lord and not for men," knowing the Lord pays the inheritance. Dean applies the same vertical reorientation to modern schedules — the ultimate Audience is God, so the boss is not the final scorekeeper. Pairing that with "approval of your loved ones" is pastoral application: if work is unto the Lord, it cannot justify neglecting the people God has already entrusted to you (cf. 1 Timothy 5:8; Ephesians 5:25). A desk sign is concrete obedience — remembering whom you serve when the inbox shouts loudest. ### My Prayer for You **Practice implementing the idea in your "busy" schedule before you reach my age!** > **Scholar sidebar — Number your days while the calendar is still yours** > Psalm 90:12 asks God to "teach us to number our days that we may get a heart of wisdom." Ephesians 5:15–16 urges walking carefully and "making the best use of the time, because the days are evil." Dean's closing prayer is urgency without panic: practice the reordered life *now*, while choice is still available, rather than waiting for age to make the same point by subtraction. That is biblical time-stewardship in plain speech. --- ## Takeaways 1. **Happiness is not the absence of work pressure.** Dean retracts the idea that true enjoyment waits until the job is quiet. 2. **Real pleasure is people.** Time with those you love is the gift he names — not a cleared inbox. 3. **Family memories expose false riches.** A Colorado week of hiking and laughter showed wealth in love that executive striving missed. 4. **Colossians 3:23 reorders the boss.** Work heartily as for the Lord; prioritize God and loved ones above human masters' approval. 5. **Change the schedule now.** His prayer is immediate practice — implement the idea in a busy calendar before age forces the lesson. --- ## First-time learner ### What is Dean saying in one sentence? Stop waiting for work pressure to end before you enjoy life — spend time with people you love, work as unto the Lord, and change your schedule now. ### Why does he quote Colossians 3:23? Because the disease he names is misplaced priority — treating the boss's approval as the highest scoreboard. Colossians 3 relocates the Audience: work with all your heart *as for the Lord*, which frees the schedule to honor God and loved ones rather than only the job. ### Key verses to read with this post - **Colossians 3:23–24** — Work heartily as for the Lord; the Lord gives the inheritance. - **Psalm 90:12** — Number your days; gain a heart of wisdom. - **Ephesians 5:15–16** — Walk carefully; redeem the time. - **Psalm 127:1–2** — Unless the Lord builds the house, labor is vain. - **Luke 12:15** — Life is not abundance of possessions. - **Proverbs 15:17** — Better a little with love than feast with hatred. - **1 Corinthians 10:31** — Do all to the glory of God. ### A simple practice (Dean's challenge made concrete) This week: (1) put Colossians 3:23 where you see it at your desk, (2) block one unmovable window for someone you love (no work phone), (3) when the boss's approval tempts you to steal that window, ask aloud whom you are ultimately working for — then keep the window. ### How this feeds Ask Dean This post is seed material for questions such as: *How should a Christian balance work and family? What does Colossians 3:23 mean for my job? Why does Dean say he was wrong about happiness?* Answers should keep Dean's voice primary and use the scholar notes only as supporting biblical scaffolding.