Listening to the Holy Spirit:
Many are the ways of a man that bring profit. The pockets can be made full both righteously and unrighteously. Gain is not the end game. Understand that I am a God of righteousness, and I call you to the same. What good is ill-gotten gain – riches that fill the stomach, but do not satisfy your hunger? Eat of the tree of righteousness. Fill the harvest baskets with the fruit of right conduct, pleasing to My eyes; in this also, you will be satisfied. You know already that volume alone with poor quality, creates only larger piles to discard – trash meant first to be a treasure. Seek not for unrighteous gain, for it piles itself in worthless mounds all about you, and the peace of My rest is stolen, and the true joy of life buried beneath. Raise your head again and seek the true treasure of righteous profit, turning away from the way of the world, to My ways of honorable work. The wage of the honest servant, he who pleases My eye, will have for himself the reward of eternal crowns, and a peace on earth for work well done.
Proverbs 10:16 (ESV) – The wage of the righteous leads to life, the gain of the wicked to sin.
Proverbs 15:6 (ESV) – In the house of the righteous there is much treasure, but trouble befalls the income of the wicked.
1Tim 6:10 (ESV) – For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evils. It is through this craving that some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many pangs.
Taking It to Work:
In 1912, in the name of advancing trust and integrity in the marketplace, the Better Business Bureau was formed. Now consisting of 106 independently incorporated local BBB organizations, the mission of keeping businesses honest carries on.
Why was such an organization needed? Because the temptation of unjust gain, just like in Bible days, lingers on today. The love of money is still the root of current-day evil, and still destroys businesses, families and individuals with its lure of unrighteous gain. Many an otherwise good man, has fallen to the lie of happiness through easy, but not-so-honest gain. The Bible warns us that not only will that kind of gain bring with it trouble, but in many cases will be our demise.
True happiness and prosperity in life comes from God’s hands, not ours.
Often though, even knowing better, we are tempted to go about things in questionable ways because the near-term payoff is better. In the end, we may appear rich for doing so, and our bank accounts may be actually full, but inside we will feel just the opposite.
Live and do right by God’s ways. Trust Him to prosper you. Honest work pays the higher long-term dividend, and the comfort and peace that comes from that honest life, can not be undervalued, as His Word and His Ways work in you, today.
