The Bible Edge
Everyone needs an Edge, Believers can have the Bible Edge
1 Thessalonians 4:11
And that ye study to be quiet, and to do your own business, and to work with your own hands, as we commanded you;
“Mind your business!” It’s a Biblical teaching. So much so that the Apostle Paul reminded the members of the church in Thessalonica that he commanded them to do so. But not just that, he commanded them to study to be quiet, work with your own hands, and to do your own business. These three simple steps, if followed, would assist anyone in building a great future in the work of their choosing. The pathway to success is not complicated, the work may be complicated, but the pathway to success is not, it’s very basic. It’s so simple it can be broken down into three simple words. Study, work, and do.
Study to be quiet. The word quiet is used here as a noun. According to Webster’s, and the sentence in which it is used, the word means “Tranquility; freedom from disturbance or alarm…” Study of your business brings quietness, tranquility, freedom from disturbance or alarm. Thinking about your job, investing time and energy to figure things out, learning about all aspects of your marketplace, competitor’s strategies, raw material status, customer habits, etc. ad nauseum. Doing this will bring quietness to your world allowing you to spend your energy on the work, not unneeded, unforeseen, and unfortunate issues.
Work with your own hands. Simply do the work. An executive of an organization that is privileged to have others do the work for them runs a great risk. Alienation of the workforce, only having a top-down view, and being out of touch are a few of those risks. I remember hearing that Sam Walton would sometimes ride with his truck drivers checking up on his stores in the middle of the night. It gave him insight that he could not find in the boardroom.
Do you own business. Some in the workforce are so intent on minding the business of others they forsake their own business. Let’s say you are hired as a sales representative for a nationwide corporation. At first your territory is small, a district or a state. Through success you are promoted to oversee the sales in several states or a region, then perhaps promoted to be over a section of the country, then the ultimate, national sales manager. How did that happen? Well, as any cowboy can tell you, you can’t ride two horses with one rear end. Meaning you can’t mind your business like you should when you are minding everyone else’s. So, do your job, mind your business.
If you do these three simple steps to success, study, work, and do, the next verse will be the natural outcome: That ye may walk honestly toward them that are without, and that ye may have lack of nothing. (1 Thessalonians 4:12) An honest life and lack of nothing. Now that is a fine description of true lifelong and satisfying success.
Study, work, and do. These will give you an edge in business…. the Bible Edge.
William Howe, Ph.D.
Comments