PART 12 – LABOUR or LUXURY
“The sleep of a labouring man is sweet, whether he eats little or much: but the abundance of the rich will not suffer him to sleep.” Ecclesiastes 5:12
A business is a great responsibility. It requires a lot of time, and thought. It requires maintenance, planning and overseeing. Every aspect has to be monitored and adjustments need to be made regularly. Yet the Bible says a labouring man sleeps well. This is because the “labouring man” is an employee. All he has to worry about is one small part of the job. It’s the boss who has to do all the worrying! So the Bible may be suggesting that it is better to be an employee than an employer, simply because an employee has less to worry about.
In the verse preceding this one, the Bible also points out that “When goods increase, they increase that eat them…” So the more we have, the more we spend. The more comes in, the more goes out. This is a law of business. It is also a law of Nature. If an insect population increases, the bird population will increase to match it. This is why it is vital to sort out how large or small you want your business to be, because the size determines the income and outgoings, the work load, the tax, the stress, the expenses, and all the other factors connected to the business.
One very good example of a person who ran a business intelligently, is in Proverbs 31, although this person is called “a virtuous wife” and may be more of an ideal, rather than any particular woman.
Look at what this “virtuous wife” does. She seems to be almost superhuman! She works with her hands to make clothes, she provides (grows) food, she buys and sells land, she spins, she weaves, she gives to the poor, she makes tapestries, she sells clothes as well, and she stays up all night working as well as all day. One almost feels exhausted reading about her, but the principle is clear. She is industrious, diligent, and savvy. She controls her business and her aim in life is not to amass wealth, but to provide for her family.
And in the New Testament there is mention of a woman called Lydia, “a seller of purple”. We assume that she gathered the murex shellfish, and extracted the purple dye, which she then marketed for a reasonable profit. She became a Christian and we assume she carried on with her business, but now as a Christian businesswoman.
But contrast these two women with the one we find in Revelation 18. This final woman is a symbol, but her activities are common to corrupt business people. She was motivated by greed, and she amassed great wealth, through dishonest and immoral practises. She “lived luxuriously” and loved money and pride and prestige more than she loved righteousness. As a result God brings her down.
She “she glorified herself” and lived in a sensual, materialistic way. The Bible describes some of her commercial pursuits: “The merchandise of gold, and silver, and precious stones, and of pearls, and fine linen, and purple, and silk, and scarlet, and all manner vessels of ivory, and all manner vessels of most precious wood, and of brass, and iron, and marble, and cinnamon, and odours, and ointments, and frankincense, and wine, and oil, and fine flour, and wheat, and beasts, and sheep, and horses, and chariots, and slaves, and souls of men.”
She was undoubtedly a very wealthy person, and her business was an enormous success, but God brought her down. She was building her business on the wrong principles. She was a citizen of the other kingdom, so despite a time of prosperity, in the end she crashed.
This should be a warning to all that run a business.
How to run a business using Bible principles – Introduction
How to run a business using Bible principles – Part 1
How to run a business using Bible principles – Part 2
How to run a business using Bible principles – Part 3
How to run a business using Bible principles – Part 4
How to run a business using Bible principles – Part 5
How to run a business using Bible principles – Part 6
How to run a business using Bible principles – Part 7
How to run a business using Bible principles – Part 8
How to run a business using Bible principles – Part 9
How to run a business using Bible principles – Part 10
How to run a business using Bible principles – Part 11
How to run a business using Bible principles – Part 13