Most Important Thing about Business
by Elijah Raines
As publisher of the Good News NW I have seen a lot
of businesses
over the years. Our community in the Northwest has a
lot of great
things going for it. There are so many Christian
business people
throughout the Spokane and North Idaho area. Each
Christian
business has its own way of sharing their faith, a
calender or a
plaque on the wall. Some christian businesses you
recognize by
Christian music playing as you walk in the door. It
is encouraging
to see different businesses express their devotion to
Christ in
genuine but different ways.
A few months ago I found myself in a business
waiting to
talk to the owner; he was on the phone and I was
sitting in the
office. He had one of these offices that had 15
things going on
all at the same time. He has a shared office with his
partner,
with sales people coming in and out. As I was waiting
to talk to
him his wife was in the room talking to a salesman
and she was
talking about her home group from church. She said
that they were
asking about business advice and how to run a
business
successfully.
She said the most important thing about
business is to “seek
first the kingdom of God”. As I heard this it was
unbelievable to
hear this from an owner of what seems to me to be a
very
successfully business in Spokane. She went on about
this to the
salesman about seeking the Lord as the most important
thing and
how everything else takes care of itself when we make
this our
first and only goal.
I sat thinking on this and I reasoned. Could
we, as we do
our business, seek his kingdom as if ultimately that
is all that
matters? But I knew that bills need to be paid
and sales need
to happen, calls need to be made and work has to be
done. My focus
was on her words as I processed theses things.
That day was a day of new beginnings for me, a
challenge to
seek first his kingdom only. That means doing
business His way,
and not mine. Letting the outcome be his concern and
doing what is
in front of me to serve God first.
As I sat there I knew that heard what God was
speaking to me
through this business woman. The office was busy with
commotion
and it seemed that I was not going to have a chance
to speak to
the owner that day, but I had heard what I needed to.
As I left, I
told the secretary that I would try to reach him on
the phone
later.
I worked the rest of the day with the business
woman’s words
in my mind, “Seek first the Kingdom of God.” I had
one of those
days where it seemed that everything went right. As I
focused on
these words, I thought, “Could the Christian life be
meant to be
this simple?” You know how it is when the doubt tries
to come in.
I thought to myself that most of my experience in
business has
been my ideas, and I know where THAT gets me! Up and
Down, UP and
DOWN. What about deadlines, and pressure, and
stresses of life?
Could I make a resolution to do Christian business
and ministry
and only seek first his kingdom? It seemed that was
God’s
challenge to me.
The next day I was at a ministry in Spokane
with my wife. We
met another couple that day who had a business in
Coeur d’Alene
and we started talking about church, family, business
and who
knows what else. As we were talking the woman
mentioned when
talking about business, “Seek first the Kingdom of
God and all
these things will be added to you.” You can imagine
my jaw dropped
when she said that.
I told her the story of what happened the day
before and how
the business woman said the same thing. She laughed
and said that
God speaks in amazing ways and that he must be
speaking to me. We
sat and talked to the couple for an hour or more it
seemed and I
was chewing on the word, “Seek first the Kingdom of
God.”
That night I shared with my kids what had
happened, and I
thought I should read the verse with the kids to see
what was
going on around the quote. Read what it says in
Matthew 6:28-34,
“And why do you worry about clothes? See how the
flowers of the
field grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell
you that not
even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one
of these.
If that is how God clothes the grass of the field,
which is here
today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he
not much more
clothe you—you of little faith? So do not worry,
saying, ‘What
shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What
shall we wear?’
For the pagans run after all these things, and your
heavenly
Father knows that you need them. But seek first his
kingdom and
his righteousness, and all these things will be given
to you as
well. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for
tomorrow will
worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of
its own.
Could these words that Jesus spoke be the way
to bring
success to business, ministry, family, and anything
in life? God
wants every business to be the best business. No
matter what you
do I believe God wants you to be the best. The best
starts with
and finishes with, “Seek first the Kingdom of God.”
As we do this
we can truly serve God and the people around us with
a focus on
serving.
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