The million-peso mistake (2)

At this writing, the cops around the world have been alerted through Interpol and are looking for them. Chances are they will get them and they will go to jail, but not before spending as much as they can and having as much fun as possible with the stolen money.

Why they would think they could get away with this foolish act is beyond me. I supposed the sight of all that money sitting there before them was too much of a temptation to resist. And perhaps they believed that all that money would insure their getaway and guarantee that they could hide forever in luxury. And even if their reputation is smashed into little pieces, maybe they couldn’t care less considering that they are now multi-millionaires.

Have you noticed how those who have stolen big bucks no longer care if the whole world knows they are crooked even if they have never been convicted? It is as if the money is more of a comfort to them than their good name and reputation. The dirty money has succeeded in silencing their conscience and covering their name with a cloak of seeming decency.

Their children and their children’s children will have to deal with the consequences of their ill-advised actions. They too might be led by the stolen money to deal with the devil themselves in order to enjoy the ill-gotten wealth of their father. They will have to build a wall of money around themselves and look for those of like mind to associate with, since men of honor will have nothing to do with them.

The Narrow Way (1)

ON EITHER SIDE of the narrow way of righteous business lies a trap based on wrong thinking about money. The first trap is the failure to achieve business success, (and then camouflaging that failure by calling it “ministry”). The second is to pursue business success at the expense of Biblical principles and personal spiritual growth. Often, the root of both mistakes is the sin of covetousness. This sin is found when our hearts are focused more on the pursuit of money than on the call of God.

On the one hand, denial of covetousness and failure to deal with it as sin can prevent the believer from breaking fleshly bondage to greed. In the end, deliberately yielding to the spirit of greed destroys the believer’s conscience, witness, and ultimately his effectiveness in the marketplace. Freedom from greed protects a believing businessperson from “walking in the counsel of the ungodly, standing in the path of sinners or sitting in the seat of the scornful.” (PSALM 1.1) the blessing of the Lord will be the result. The first _Psalm goes on to promise that whatever such a person does will prosper. A blessed businessperson is not striving in the flesh, making costly mistakes and breaking valuable relationships. He or she may therefore prosper in business through simple perseverance and faithfulness.

Reference: Peter Tsukahira . . “My Father’s Business Guideline for Ministry in the Marketplace”