Gaining Wisdom from an Unexpected Source; How to Prosper

Whatever you may think of Jeff Bezos, his wisdom in business has proven itself in his application of the principle of sowing and reaping. Without question, Jeff Bezos’ personal life and attitude does not reflect particularly admirable qualities. Nevertheless, this man has made enormous success out of one single company to such an extent that he has become one of the richest men in the world. 

In what way does he exemplify the principle of sowing and reaping?  Well, Amazon began as a business mid-1994, and opened as an online bookseller in July 1995. The company went public by May 1997. For years, Jeff Bezos’ company, Amazon, not only existed in the NASDAQ, but was emerging in the business world as a force to be reckoned with in online marketing and sales. Nevertheless, this ever-more powerful company did not make a profit for four and one-half years after it went public. 

It was indeed, an anomaly among companies which attracted large investment. It was often highly debated among investors and investment advisors, whether one ought to invest in this company, given its failure year after year, to produce a profit. The pressure to make a profit is enormous because analysts and investors look at profit numbers to evaluate the cost/benefit ratio, or risk factors for any investment in the market.  

The critical point here is that what Jeff Bezos was doing was that he was taking all his profit and investing it back into the company. As a result of this reinvestment, his company grew at an enormous rate and soon dominated its competitors in its control of market share. 

We can all learn something from this as Christians. Most of us are quite shortsighted. We tend to think in terms of short-term benefits, or returns on our investments in the kingdom of God. The truth is however, that we would do well to follow that example in the spiritual realm, which Jeff Bezos exemplified in the material realm. If this is an offensive idea, 

I understand the discomfort. But even Jesus in the parable of the unwise steward used an example of a man who did not represent particular character as a metaphor for us all to consider when applied to the spiritual realm. The so-called “unwise” steward turned out to be wise in the end, in spite of his lazy stewardship which initially had resulted in the loss of that stewardship. 

They say that “time is money.” In the meaning of this saying, is that our time is one of the most precious commodities which we have been given in life. God has entrusted us with the “talent” of time. We are free, for the most part, to use it as we wish. This is especially so when it comes to where we place our hopes. 

The Bible often speaks of hope, and frequently it is used almost synonymously with the word “faith.” Indeed, these two words are very closely related. We are instructed in Scripture to place our faith and our hope in Christ alone. This is contrasted with placing faith and hope in men, ourselves, and the natural, or “elementary principles of the universe.” 

One very important spiritual principle I learned many years ago from the Lord, from Scripture, is that there is a difference between working for salvation and believing so as to inherit salvation. Work involves effort. When we exert effort, what we believe that we are entitled to be rewarded for it. Effort is costly to us, it requires something of us. Faith, however, requires nothing. Hope, similarly, requires nothing of us.  

Faith and hope is our investment in the promise of another. Faith and hope are commonly used by conmen to extract something of value from their victims. In many ways, the world system, which is under the evil one, operates on this principle all the time. People hope in gaining what they want and in so doing they sell their soul.

Jesus on the other hand, perfect in love seeks to grant us the kingdom of God as a gift. That kingdom consists of us inheriting true righteousness, peace, joy, and the love which is in the Father. God’s kind of love is almost incomprehensible to us. It gives without any interest in gaining personal benefit from that giving. It is something that some of us aspire to, but none of us on our own power could ever achieve. 

So, the point I am trying to make is this: we are free to sow and reap the kingdom of God in our lives without limit by merely investing, all our hope in Christ and his perfect sacrifice. And we could further say, that is more than just investing, but a reinvesting from the returns that we receive of our investment in Christ. That is to say, as we reap from our investment of hope in Him, we are free to take the faith that results from the exercise of our faith and hope, and reinvested in even more faith and hope in Him. 

This is a profound principle that will produce Amazon-like profits in the spiritual realm. I must warn you however, that the cost of this investment will be the constant death of your own wants and desires, dreams and natural hopes.  

Yet, you will find that God will establish in you a life in which there is daily resurrection from that old life. As you are losing in the arena of your natural hopes and wants, God will be constantly, yes, daily, causing you to inherit his glorious resurrection life.  

You will experience this strange but glorious combination of personal loss and great reward. Loss of temporal wants, but gain in things so grand, so beyond your expectations, that no matter what the losses, you will always end up rejoicing.   

That rejoicing will be new every morning. As it is written, “He who believes in Him will not be disappointed” (1 Peter 2:6).