Seest thou a man diligent in his business? He shall stand before kings, he shall not stand before mean men. Proverbs 22:29 KJV
In this scripture verse the word “business” refers to one’s ministry. In Christ a ministry is an act of service. So those who have a business ought to conduct their business, their ministry, as a service to the greater good like as one is in service as a servant of God.
In the process of conducting a business one should be diligent or “steady in application to (their) business, constant in effort or exertion to accomplish what is undertaken” (Noah Webster 1828 Dictionary).
A person in handling one’s business should also keep in mind how their business, in whatever category, is a service not to oneself, but a work to benefit others from the product sold, i.e., to benefit employees, the public, the environment, men, women, and children, and all of creation.
This is where a business becomes a ministry, a service, which places the owner of the business in a position of well earned leadership where “He shall stand before kings.”
Brenda A. McGee has attended New York Theological Seminary in New York, NY, and Fuller Theological Seminary in Pasadena, CA as a Master of Divinity student.