April 6, 2026

Business by the Book

Ruth 3:11 And now, my daughter, fear not; I will do to thee all that thou requirest: for all the city of my people doth know that thou art a virtuous woman.

Do you know what is going on in your community? Boaz did. This mighty man of wealth did not live as an island, he did not shun public opinion, and he did not hide his head in the sand. He knew what …all the city of my people… knew and thought about Ruth. Successful people are well advised by others on matters of the unknown.

A man named Sir John Powell once said, “He who has no inclination to learn more will be very apt to think that he knows enough.”  No one knows enough. Knowledge must be searched out, scrubbed out, and sorted out. If “knowledge is power” perhaps so many are weak because they have not acquired the knowledge they need from their communities.

Abraham Lincoln was once interviewing men for a certain job in his administration. After meeting with one man Mr. Lincoln said to his confidant, “That is the most ablest man that that man knows.”  In other words, the man the President interviewed thought he knew it all, no one knew more than him, he was the final word and arbiter of whatever discipline was being discussed. No one is so brilliant that they cannot learn from others.

Read the news, give audience to the news media, subscribe to trade periodicals, talk to people, meet with customers, listen to workers, gain all their knowledge. Then use it to your best advantage. That which you learn today may not help you today, but it may be a vital bit of information for tomorrow. Making decisions is difficult work, sometimes a “gut feeling” is right, but many times it is only indigestion.

Proverbs 25:2 states: …the honour of kings is to search out a matter…  Boaz did and it served him well.

Dr. William Howe