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3: Business as Blessing · Finding God at Work

• 0:04
  (Transcribed by TurboScribe. Go Unlimited to remove this message.) Hi, I'm Chris.
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  This is Finding God at Work.
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  Just a reminder that Finding God at Work
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  isn't just a podcast, it's also an online
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  course.
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  Check it out at findinggodatwork.org.
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  Our current series is A Mysterious Business, bringing
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  ministry and marketplace wisdom together.
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  If you've listened to the first couple episodes,
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  you know that I've talked a lot about
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  this idea of structures in the kingdom of
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  God.
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  In our last episode, we looked at Jesus'
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  teaching on the wine and the wineskins.
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  The idea that there's this substance, which is
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  like the presence of God, the life that
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  God offers us, but then there's a structure
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  around it that God still uses to get
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  that substance out to people.
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  In our first episode, we introduced the series
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  on this word mystery, that there's something hidden,
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  which is then revealed, and that's the presence
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  of Christ.
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  If you've been listening carefully, you might be
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  wondering, well, Chris, you haven't actually talked about
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  any Bible passages that deal with business yet.
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  One of the big ideas here is that
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  business can be one of these structures in
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  the kingdom of God.
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  Citing the work of Dallas Willard, business can
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  be a fundamental structure of love in the
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  kingdom of God.
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  That's a big claim.
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  We need to look at specific biblical passages
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  that talk about business if we're going to
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  make a claim like that.
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  That's what I want to do today, is
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  actually go to a passage that I think
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  establishes this really clearly.
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  It's a bit of a Bible quiz.
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  Can you think of someone in the Bible
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  who's kind of famous, but we don't have
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  their name?
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  This is tough.
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  Kind of famous, but we don't have their
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  name.
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  What they do is they take care of
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  their family, they buy some land, they start
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  a business, and they turn a profit, and
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  they're praised for that.
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  They're praised for the way that they succeed
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  as an entrepreneur and the way they serve
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  others in that business environment.
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  Can you think of somebody in the Bible
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  who's described this way?
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  Take a minute.
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  See if you can think of them.
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  We don't know their name, but, all right.
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  Okay.
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  If you don't know, the answer is the
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  noble woman of Proverbs 31.
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  So as you may know, Proverbs is a
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  book of wisdom literature in the Bible.
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  Its final chapter, actually the final half of
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  that chapter, is this kind of classic description
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  of a noble woman, a woman who stands
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  out for her godly character, the way that
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  her connection with God extends to her connection
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  with her family and with the broader community
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  around her.
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  And sometimes Christians have emphasized that family piece
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  while neglecting the piece that goes beyond the
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  family into the broader community.
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  But that's actually the bigger chunk of the
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  text.
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  So I'm going to read the whole passage
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  here.
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  It's a little bit longer, and then we're
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  going to go to a couple different scholars
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  that can help us understand it.
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  But listen for this passage as a description
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  of an entrepreneur, as somebody who's working in
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  the marketplace to turn a profit.
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  Okay.
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  So this is Proverbs 31, starting in verse
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  10.
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  An excellent wife, who can find.
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  She is far more precious than jewels.
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  The heart of her husband trusts in her,
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  and he will have no lack of gain.
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  She does him good and not harm all
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  the days of her life.
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  She seeks wool and flax and works with
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  willing hands.
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  She is like the ships of the merchant.
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  She brings her food from afar.
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  She rises while it is yet night and
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  provides food for her household and portions for
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  her maidens.
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  She considers a field and buys it.
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  With the fruit of her hands, she plants
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  a vineyard.
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  She dresses herself with strength and makes her
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  arms strong.
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  She perceives that her merchandise is profitable.
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  Her lamp does not go out at night.
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  She puts her hands to the distef and
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  her hands to the spindle.
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  She opens her hand to the poor and
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  reaches out her hands to the needy.
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  She is not afraid of snow for her
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  household, for all her household are clothed in
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  scarlet.
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  She makes bed coverings for herself.
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  Her clothing is fine linen and purple.
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  Her husband is known in the gates when
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  he sits among the elders of the land.
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  She makes linen garments and sells them.
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  She delivers sashes to the merchant.
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  Strength and dignity are her clothing, and she
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  laughs at the time to come.
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  She opens her mouth with wisdom, and the
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  teaching of kindness is on her tongue.
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  She looks well to the ways of her
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  household and does not eat the bread of
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  idleness.
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  Her children rise up and call her blessed.
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  Her husband also, and he praises her.
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  Many women have done excellently, but you surpassed
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  them all.
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  Charm is deceitful and beauty is vain, but
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  a woman who fears the Lord is to
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  be praised.
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  Give her the fruit of her hands and
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  let her works praise her in the gates.
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  Okay, listening to that, did you catch all
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  of the business details, right?
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  Even that final verse, let her works praise
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  her in the gates.
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  It basically says, let her reputation abound because
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  of how well she's done in these business
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  ventures, these works that she's undertaken.
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  So I wanna go to Dr. Hannah Stoltz.
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  She's one of the scholars that kind of
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  helped cue me into how this passage speaks
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  to business as a structure that the scriptures
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  bless.
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  So Dr. Hannah Stoltz, she's now at Baylor
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  University.
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  Her area of expertise is supply chain management,
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  but she also has a biblical studies degree.
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  She's written a book about wisdom and business.
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  So this is from that part of her
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  work, an essay she wrote a few years
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  ago, surprising lessons from the noble woman of
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  Proverbs 31.
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  And so she writes, maybe it's not surprising
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  that when I come to this passage as
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  a business scholar and supply chain professor, I
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  see a portrayal of an outstanding business leader
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  who happens to be a woman.
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  We can better understand Solomon's noble woman, if
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  we realize that the word translated as household
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  is oikos.
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  That's in verses 21 and 27.
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  Let me just pause there in the quote.
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  She's going off of the Septuagint translation of
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  the Old Testament, which would be in Greek.
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  The original Hebrew of the passage wouldn't have
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  used the word oikos.
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  It would have used this word betta.
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  But betta is also translated house or household
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  to mean this larger economic unit.
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  So the point that she's making still stands,
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  whether we're using Hebrew betta or Greek oikos.
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  It's a bigger concept of household than we
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  might be used to.
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  So back to the quote here from Dr.
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  Stoltz.
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  The reference is not to the domestic nuclear
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  family with which we are familiar.
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  Rather, it principally refers to the basic unit
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  of economic activity in the ancient world.
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  Abraham, with all his servants, animals, and other
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  forms of wealth, was head of an oikos.
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  So was Job.
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  In our modern parlance, therefore, oikos is better
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  understood as a family business venture, not a
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  domestic family unit.
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  Which makes it much less surprising then that
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  Proverbs 31 mentions this noble woman's children only
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  once, her husband just three times.
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  The entirety of the other verses are dedicated
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  to her commercial activities.
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  So again, we see this kind of in
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  the balance of what's described in the passage.
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  Obviously, this woman is deeply connected to her
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  family.
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  It says her children rise up and call
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  her blessed.
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  That's wonderful.
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  At the same time, what's she doing?
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  She's going out and buying property, right?
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  This is in verse 16.
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  She considers a field and buys it.
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  With the fruit of her hands, she plants
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  a vineyard.
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  So the fruit of her hands would be
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  the profits from previous business ventures, right?
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  So she's done some smaller business ventures.
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  She builds up enough capital that she can
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  go and purchase land and start a vineyard.
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  She starts a new business with the capital
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  that she's created from her prior ventures, right?
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  She dresses herself with strength and makes her
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  arms strong.
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  That's verse 17.
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  Verse 18, she perceives that her merchandise is
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  profitable.
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  So she's creating products from a vineyard, presumably
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  wine and other things.
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  It talks about her doing different things with
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  textiles that she's going to sell at a
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  profit in the public marketplace.
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  And this is represented as an expression of
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  her life with God, right?
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  What does it say at the bottom in
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  verse 30?
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  But a woman who fears the Lord is
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  to be praised, right?
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  It's saying, look at the way that this
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  woman fears the Lord.
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  She is loving the people around her.
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  She's loving her children.
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  It mentions that she's remembering the poor and
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  needy as well.
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  So she's using the overflow of profit in
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  her business to see to the well-being
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  of those in her community that might be
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  disadvantaged in some way.
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  She's serving other people.
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  And clearly, there's a kind of dynamic of
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  joy here as well.
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  It says, she works with willing hands.
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  When I go to another scholar, this is
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  R.
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  Paul Stevens, who talks about that verse that
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  says she works with willing hands.
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  So he says it could also be translated,
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  she works with her hands with pleasure.
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  That's verse 13.
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  R.
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  Paul Stevens says, there are multiple joys in
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  work.
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  The joy of simply being able to work,
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  the joy of using gifts and talents, and
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  the joy of simply knowing that others will
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  benefit from our work.
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  But the ultimate joy in work, here hinted
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  at in the reference to our ideal woman
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  being a woman who fears the Lord, is
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  to work gladly in God's name and for
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  God's sake, her motivation comes from a relationship
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  of affectionate reverence for God.
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  A relationship of affectionate reverence for God.
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  Isn't that beautiful?
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  Okay, okay.
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  So backing up, let's draw a little bit
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  on our last episode, this idea of substance
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  versus structures.
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  What is the substance here?
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  The substance is this motivation rooted in her
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  connection with God.
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  She's motivated by her fear of the Lord.
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  She's motivated by affection for God, love for
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  God.
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  And then out of that flows this service
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  to others.
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  She provides for her family's needs, and she
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  even provides for others in the community beyond
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  her family.
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  And she's serving the needs of the community
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  through the economic transactions themselves, right?
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  The people who are buying her products benefit
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  by buying the products.
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  And so she has both profitable positive effect
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  on the community and charitable positive effect on
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  the community with the overflow of her profits.
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  So the structure of that essence of loving
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  service and joy is a profitable business.
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  Okay.
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  So what does that mean?
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  Does that mean that everybody needs to start
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  a profitable business or that like women specifically
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  need to start profitable businesses in order to
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  honor God?
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  That's not what it means.
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  This is an example and Dr. Stoltz helps
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  us here too.
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  So back to Dr. Stoltz, she connects it
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  to Abraham.
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  So she talked about Abraham having an oikos.
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  Let me read this here.
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  The noble woman of Proverbs 31 is not
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  just a woman of exceptional wisdom and skill.
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  She is something much more.
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  In the way her business venture blesses everyone
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  it touches, she embodies God's covenantal blessed to
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  be a blessing intention for all of us.
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  Let me read that again.
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  In the way her business venture blesses everyone
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  it touches, she embodies God's covenantal blessed to
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  be a blessing intention for all of us.
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  So remember Abraham, Abraham when he was blessed
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  by God, right?
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  God said, those who bless you, I will
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  bless, right?
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  He also said that Abraham would become a
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  blessing for all the nations, right?
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  Abraham was blessed so that he could be
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  a blessing.
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  That's how God works when he's in covenant
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  with people.
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  He blesses them in that covenant, but then
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  that blessing isn't just for them.
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  It extends beyond them to bless other people.
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  That's the dynamic for all of us as
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  the people of God.
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  For those of us who have entered into
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  God's covenant with Abraham through faith in Jesus,
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  the Messiah of the descendants of Abraham, the
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  people of Israel.
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  We now are blessed to be a blessing.
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  That's the thing that's universal.
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  That's the essence, right?
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  Being motivated by that affectionate relationship with God,
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  love for God, and then lovingly serving others
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  with joy.
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  That's the essence that's true for all of
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  us.
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  All of us are blessed by God wherever
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  we are so that we can be a
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  blessing to others.
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  One structure for that is to love others
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  by running a profitable business.
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  Okay, so you see the difference between the
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  substance and the structure?
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  The substance is universal.
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  The structure may differ from person to person
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  in terms of your specific place in life
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  and calling and gifts, et cetera.
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  So what does that mean practically for us?
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  Well, I want to start for any listeners
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  who really are entrepreneurs.
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  If you have started a business and you
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  are trying to make that business profitable, I
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  want to affirm that the scriptures specifically name
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  and bless that structure.
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  That expression of love for God and others
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  is right there at the heart of the
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  Bible.
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  This is not just some side thing or
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  like a JV version of Christianity.
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  It's not like people who do nonprofit ministry
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  are the real spiritual heroes.
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  No, no, in this wisdom literature, the conclusion
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  to the book of Proverbs, when it's like,
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  how do we describe somebody who's really full
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  of the life of God?
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  Ah, let's describe a mom who runs a
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  business, right?
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  Like that's the best.
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  That's the ideal.
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  That's an expression that's just as valid as
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  any other expression of God's love in the
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  world.
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  So I just really want to name and
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  bless that.
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  That if you're trying to run a profitable
• 13:27
  business and you're doing it to love God
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  and to love others in the workings of
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  the business itself, and then yes, using the
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  profits you gain for purposes of generosity, like
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  that is blessed by God.
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  That is kingdom work that deeply matters.
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  That is a fundamental structure of love in
• 13:43
  the kingdom of God.
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  Be blessed as you do that work, that
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  God is with you.
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  He sees you.
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  He wants your business to serve other people.
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  Wow.
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  Okay.
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  What about the rest of us, right?
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  Those of us who are not business entrepreneurs
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  for us, I think we can still imitate
• 13:58
  the character of this noble woman in Proverbs
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  31, right?
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  Like we see her character that she works
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  really diligently.
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  It says her lamp does not go out
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  at night, right?
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  If work still needs to be done, she
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  tucks the kids in and then goes back
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  and finishes the work project.
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  Sometimes that's how it is, right?
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  Also, she has joy.
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  She has that sense of doing her work
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  with her hands with pleasure, as R.
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  Paul Stevens said.
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  Can we take joy in our work while
• 14:25
  continuing to work hard?
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  And then of course, the manner of her
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  work is to serve others, right?
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  She provides for the need of her household.
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  She's not afraid of winter because she knows
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  that her kids are provided for.
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  So all of us in whatever kind of
• 14:37
  work we have, we can have that posture
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  of diligence, of joy, and of service.
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  I think as we do that, whatever our
• 14:45
  structure is, we'll draw closer to God as
• 14:49
  we go about our daily work.
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  Lord Jesus, thank you that you bless these
• 14:54
  different structures in scripture, including the structure of
• 14:58
  business and profitable entrepreneurship.
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  We pray that you would bless everyone who's
• 15:04
  listening to this, where that's the specific structure
• 15:06
  that you've given them, that they would feel
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  your presence, that your love and your joy
• 15:12
  would be in them and move through them
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  as they do their work.
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  And we pray for all of us that
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  we would live that life of diligence and
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  joy and service and find you in it.
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  Jesus, do your work in us as we
• 15:26
  do our work with you.
• 15:32
  Thanks for listening.
• 15:33
  Finding God at Work is a production of
• 15:35
  Mission Central, a ministry based in Aurora, Illinois,
• 15:38
  dedicated to forming Christians for mission in everyday
• 15:40
  life.
• 15:41
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