God Owns My BusinessSample

God's Return

You may already be familiar with the parable of the talents. It starts with a simple command: “Put this money to work.” As entrepreneurs, a similar question could be asked of us like this: how are you putting your business to work?

We might have several ready-made answers to this question about the ways we’re growing, the markets we’re beginning to enter, the big plans for expansion and funding and hiring new people and on and on. But here’s the gut-wrencher—are we working for our return or for God’s return?

See, some of the servants in this story obeyed the command. They knew the master was coming back, so they worked hard to give him a large dividend upon his return. But one didn’t. One servant sat on the money, hoarding it and hiding it, probably dreading the day the master would return, or secretly hoping that day might never come.

This actually isn’t a lesson on working harder so that we’ll have more success to show to God. It’s about seeing our work as an act of service to the Master. It’s about understanding that He has given us something, namely a business, with which we can honor, glorify, and worship Him.

The servants who used what the master gave them got something much greater than a financial return—they had the satisfaction of giving it back to the master. We are like children creating a drawing that God will hang on His refrigerator. He wants to be proud of how we’ve worked for Him.

He wants to look at us with a smile and say, “Well done, my good and faithful servant.” God actually wants that for us. So, what will we do today to work for His return?

Further Thought

• What would you do differently if you acted like God owned 100% of your business and He had just given you a 5-10 year responsibility to care for it until He returned? 
• How would your attitude change if during your drive home at the end of the day you prayed and gave God a status report on how you worked for His return that day?

If you enjoyed this reading plan, explore other resources for Faith Driven Entrepreneurs