The High Impact Entrepreneur: A 3-Day DevotionalPrøve

If I were brilliant enough to discover the cure for cancer but spent my life playing video games instead, that would be so much more than a waste of time. It would be wrong. If I were smart enough to discover the cure for cancer, and I did but ran my company with such a thin profit margin that it couldn’t stay afloat, the world still would not benefit. In fact, the only right, moral, and kind thing to do if God entrusted me with that type of brilliance would be to find the cure and then make sure that the company that brought it to the world was as effective, efficient, and pro!table as possible so it could continue to deliver that life-saving solution to the world. For us, as entrepreneurs, just having God-given gifts isn’t enough. Even bringing our gifts to the market isn’t enough. If our businesses run out of money, everything comes to a screeching halt, and the gifts God intended for the benefit of the world won’t be delivered. Profit really does matter—both to us and to God! In Luke 19, Jesus shares a surprising story about a master embarking on a long journey. Before he leaves, he calls ten of his servants in and gives each of them one mina (about three month’s wages) to manage while he is gone. His only instruction is this: “Engage in business until I come” (Luke 19:13 ESV). Engage in business? Why? Why not sit around and just manage what the master already had? Why not live it up and enjoy the fruit of the master’s labor? Why not give it all to the poor? What’s so important about having a profitable business? Think about it. Done well, business is one of the best things that has ever happened to the world. Without business, we would each live on our own small plot of land, build our own houses, grow our own food, and make our own clothes. We would work from dawn to dusk and have to be good at every single thing. I’m not good at any of those things and don’t enjoy them, either. My poor family would be homeless, naked, and starving. And I’d be pretty unfulfilled. Fortunately, you and I can engage in business. We can spend time doing what we enjoy and do well, sell it, make a healthy profit, and buy the rest, which is a much better plan. It’s much more fulfilling. When we engage in business until our master, Jesus, returns, not only do our families flourish, but the whole community flourishes as well. Today, I want you to consider what it might look like for you to engage in business as a Christian business owner.