Your Eden Work

In this second post about the calling of the Christian entrepreneur, I want to talk about what I call the “sub-Why’s”.

Last time, I talked about the “Why”, the main reason I believe God wants us to get wealth. There are several sub-Why’s, reasons, that God wants us to get wealth.

One is that He wants us to help our families and loved ones:

“But those who don’t care for their own relatives, especially those living in the same household, have denied what we believe.  Such people are worse than unbelievers.” - 1Timothy 5:8 (NLT)

So another reason we are to be motivated to get wealth is to care for our relatives, especially (but not limited to) those living in the same household.  And the Apostle Paul says that those who don’t are worse than unbelievers!

Another reason to be motivated to get wealth is to help those who are in need:

“If you are a thief, stop stealing.  Begin using your hands for honest work, and then give generously to others in need.” - Ephesians 4:28 (NLT)

We should want to give generously to others in need, through our local church and other ministries inside and outside of it. 

All of this is not to say that God doesn’t want us to seek personal (e.g., material) benefits from our entrepreneurship (and all work); He does.  But we must put seeking our benefits in the proper priority.  I believe this is the last priority, but sadly many (dare I even say, most?) of us Christians have put ourselves, not God or His Kingdom, first:

“But seek ye first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.” - Matthew 6:33 (KJV)

And while He says we should put Him first, I believe He is not opposed to us having desires, as long as they are within His will for our lives:

“Take delight in the Lord, and He will give you your heart’s desires.” - Psalm 37:4 (NLT)

And see this: He could get angry with us if we don’t believe and accept the things He wants to bless us with!!!:

“The people refused to enter the pleasant land, for they wouldn’t believe His promise to care for them.” Psalm 106:24 (NLT) (emphasis mine)

God is sooo good, that he wants us to enter into the “pleasant land”.  You remember the pleasant land, right?  The promised land, the land flowing with milk and honey (material things)?

So does God want us to focus on being millionaires, or “Kingdomaires” - good stewards of His calling and purpose, prioritizing our motivations, our Why’s, properly? 

Can you imagine if every Christian would have their motivations prioritized like this?  What would the Kingdom of God be like and how could we influence the world for Him?

I’m working on doing this, and so can you…I believe it’s a process if the world’s (system) “taught” us differently. 

What are your thoughts on any or all of this?

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This entry was posted on Saturday, February 9th, 2008 at 4:50 pm and is filed under Entrepreneurship, Purpose, Motivation. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.