CHAPTER NINE
Make a Choice
No servant can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon. (Luk.16:13)
As businesspeople, we have to make moral decisions almost every day. Each day we have to decide where to draw the line in the sand. It is obvious we cannot call ourselves Christian and worship mammon at the same time. The one you use, you will despise. The one you serve, you will love. It is a decision all business people have to make at one stage or another. All for money or all for God and that decision becomes an allegiance which will determine your business philosophy, your approach to others, your vision, even your approach to life and your family. It is unfortunate, but some businesspeople are prepared to sacrifice their lives for money, to become servants to mammon.
Moses was brought up in the palace of Pharaoh, as Pharaoh’s grandson. As an adult he had a choice to make, either to continue living the grand life, enjoying his status as prince of the royal household and the pleasures it offered or devote himself and his life to God. He chose, admittedly, the harder route because he saw the greater rewards that awaited him:
By faith Moses, when he was come to years, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter;
Choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God, than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season;
Esteeming the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures in Egypt: for he had respect unto the recompence of the reward. (Heb 11:24-26)
He looked for something far greater than the passing joys of the flesh, he wanted an everlasting reward. We too have that decision to make, my soul or money, or as the old movie cliché would have it: your money or your life.
Charge them that are rich in this world, that they be not highminded, nor trust in uncertain riches, but in the living God, who giveth us richly all things to enjoy; (1Tim.6:17)
Business is cyclical with its ups and downs. During the recent economic downturn we saw how easily money seemed to slip away, how difficult it became to acquire and to keep, how suddenly fortunes can disappear and prospects dry up. In one day a healthy portfolio can become a nightmare of worthless paper. Airplanes fall, cars crash and boats sink, companies collapse and property burns. Ask Job, he can tell you all about it; he experienced one calamity after another eventually losing everything even his children and yet he still believed:
Then Job arose, and rent his mantle, and shaved his head, and fell down upon the ground, and worshipped,
And said, Naked came I out of my mother's womb, and naked shall I return thither: the LORD gave, and the LORD hath taken away; blessed be the name of the LORD.
In all this Job sinned not, nor charged God foolishly. (Job.1:21-22)
Job never allowed his business or his wealth to get between him and God. He kept his faith in an Almighty God who could and would bring a change to his circumstances.
I know that thou canst do every thing, and that no thought can be withholden from thee. (Job.42:2)
Job acknowledgement of the power of God brought a change in his life, his family and his health and wealth were restored. He understood how transient gold and silver are.
Jesus told us:
Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal:
But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal:
For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also. (Mat. 6:19-21)
What greater treasure is there than the things that He has for us through His Holy Spirit:
love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith,
Meekness, temperance: (Gal.5:22b-23a)
Achieve these and you have achieved true success. Our success is dependent on Him and the greater the success, the greater the responsibility to maintain our commitment to God. It is so easy to lose sight of the true wealth. Job’s whole life could be summed up in the words:
For what is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?(Mat.16:26)
This verse should be inscribed on all boardroom walls, for it encapsulates all the answers to all the questions we ask. What is your life worth? Are you prepared to put a price on it? Money promises so much, but it is a promise without substance, it comes and goes as life and the markets determine but God says:
Let your conversation be without covetousness; and be content with such things as ye have: for He hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee. (Heb 13:5)
He is always there.