Goods and Services

Every time money changes hands in a business transaction it can be boiled down to either the exchange of goods or services.

We see people getting involved in fly by night business schemes all the time don't we?

It is a good principle to understand when evaluating a potential business opportunity... what is the service being provided? Is there a product and what is the demand and distribution method? Interesting ideas are not always profitable ones.

God wants a different transaction.. He wants your heart. No product or service is produced or expected. God desires connection not profit.

That is why faith is not a work. It is intimate trust.

God gives us beauty for ashes. (see Isaiah 61:3)

"No servant can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon." - Luke 16:13 NKJV

If we live life like it is a cold business transaction then we are in very bad company.

"You were an anointed guardian cherub. I placed you; you were on the holy mountain of God; in the midst of the stones of fire you walked. You were blameless in your ways from the day you were created, till unrighteousness was found in you. In the abundance of your trade you were filled with violence in your midst, and you sinned; so I cast you as a profane thing from the mountain of God, and I destroyed you, O guardian cherub, from the midst of the stones of fire." - Ezekiel 28:14-16 ESV

Don't get me wrong I am all for good business practices. God wants a just balance.

It is important to understand that His relationship with us is not a business transaction. Our relationships to each other should not be either.

"And if anyone would sue you and take your tunic, let him have your cloak as well. And if anyone forces you to go one mile, go with him two miles." - Matthew 5:40-41 ESV

"For what is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?" - Matthew 16:26 KJV

Souls are worth more than all the world. Each one has value beyond all time and space. Love just does not function in that economy. God will only deal with us in grace. It is a gift given. It is a love relationship.

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