October 2, 2026

Business by the Book

Proverbs 14:23 In all labour there is profit: but the talk of the lips tendeth only to penury.

Talk is cheap. You’ve heard this and probably know it to be true. It costs little to talk, a little air, a little muscle, and, too many times, little thought. Talk is worth pennies; but labor, labor is worth a lot. Labor brings forth profit, all labor. It may seem that the labor you expend today is not profitable, but it is. Somehow, somewhere, in some way the labor of your life will bring forth profit. That is God’s Word on the matter, it is His promise, and He always keeps His Word, His promise.

I read one time of a man who lived alone in a hut in the middle a remote forest. Blocking the path to his hut was a boulder. One day the Lord spoke to him telling him to remove that huge boulder. He tried; he pushed, pulled, dug, pushed, dug, pushed some more, dug some more, he pushed it forward, backward, and sideways; he tried everything. He even tried to engineer it using a long steady pole and a fulcrum for leverage. To no avail, the boulder would not budge. The man continued to work at it, day by day, week by week, month by month and year by year the man toiled at the job the Lord gave him.

Finally in complete despair, disappointment, disgust, disillusionment, and discouragement the man quit. He could not move the boulder, he felt like a failure, he quit. He prayed a very disappointed prayer to the Lord confessing that he had failed and his time and labor had been wasted.

The Lord answered, “You have not failed, you are a great success. Look at the strong arms you have, consider your strong legs, think about the many ways you have learned about how not to move a boulder, your back is stout, your waist trim, your lungs are robust, and your hands are calloused. You are now ready for the great task I have for you, the task of leading your tribe in battle for there will shortly be an attack. You have the knowledge, strength, and perseverance to win the battle for your people. You will be a great hero.”

His work, though seemingly meaningless, was yielding a great profit. The seemingly meaningless work you do too; it is yielding a great profit. Guaranteed.

Dr. William Howe