Business, life & eternity

Doing Business is an integral part of every human life. Without it life becomes stifled and boring. As no one human being has all it takes to be in existence, we all have to exchange our resources and skills. Business can be explained as any form of transaction we enter into to exchange resource/skill for another resource or skill. Every single person is engaging in it, including those doing white collar jobs.

Before the fall of man in the garden, his business was to fellowship with God and to look after the creations of God, in return reap the benefits from them. After the fall, the business continues but in a different dimension and level. This time he was required to toil in order to reap the benefit from God’s creation. All of this happened because he chose to disobey God and fell into sin. Irrespective of this, God was still willing to intervene in man’s life, to reduce the level of hardship he would suffer. Gen 3:17-20 strangely each time, man keeps going further away from God’s mercy and grace. Look at Cain, instead of choosing to do what is right; he decided to kill his brother in jealousy. And for him and the rest of mankind, hardship increased. Gen. 4:6-15.

Generation after generation, as wickedness increases, man’s hardship increases. Everyone wants to make money, and so there is a lot of hustling causing them pain and misery. Many people believe it is impossible to survive being honest. They engage in so many fraudulent acts that finally deny them of the joy of enjoying the money when it finally comes. Jesus came as a pathway to lead us back to God. Even more than Adam, we can enjoy the benefit of just fellowshipping with God and tending what he has created. Tending those things would require some physical exertion; however it’s done with joy and peace of mind. This is because you are doing it under his grace and guidance. You do not have to lose sleep, because you have put your trust in God. That is the nature of business every child of God should be doing. God is interested in profit and so He would teach you how to make wealth Deut 8:18.

The sad truth is that the believers that should know better are falling into the same trap and losing sight of eternity, not realising that what others are killing for we already have. We are found double-dealing, defrauding and even steal. Our labour is no longer labour of love, it is labour of work just to survive and make ends meet. In God’s plan for our businesses, we are expected to operate under His grace and strength. Our business should be our working field to reach out to people with the love of Christ and impact our world for eternity. The wealth we make is also to fund the gospel of our Lord Jesus. We are the only being on earth with the DNA to do good and to turn darkness into light. Our assignment as we do business is mainly for the purpose of impacting our world for the kingdom of God. Each time we fail to realise this, we also lose sight of eternity and we end up becoming victim in life. The scripture says whosoever lays his hands on the plough and looks back is not fit for the kingdom of God(Lk 9:62).

While we are here, we cannot be idle and lazy, we have to work and earn a living. However the work we do should not be do satisfy self rather to fulfill Gods purpose on earth. The clear picture of eternity in our lives would always serve as a compass for good practice in business and we keep us ready for eternity.

So what must we do to keep eternity in view?

1. Your undying attention to the WORD of God and value for the kingdom of God.

Every giant of faith in the bible were people with undying love for God and His kingdom even in the midst of their businesses. Their conversation with God were not hearsays, they heard and heeded God. It never left them that they were sojourners here on earth – looking for a city with foundation whose architect and builder is God (Heb. 11:10). Their devotion and allegiance to God was second to none.

2. There must be a deliberate effort to remind ourselves and put the goal of eternity in view.

The world and its system seek to distract us. Their intention is to cause us to miss the purpose for which we were born (to affect our world for the kingdom), so we need to be intentional and deviant to their ways. This is tantamount to great fight and contention and we cannot afford to lose.
3. Desire to put others above oneself. In the world this does not gel. You put yourself first but with us there must be that deliberate attempt to ensure that others have it well even more than if need be. There is no better way to be an example of a believer other than in our actions not in words only.
My sincere prayer and hope is that our journey in the world of business enhances our chances of eternity.

Remain blessed.

 

Debo Atiba