Proverbs 20

Drinking, cheating, gossip, and boasting; it's all in here and more. A beat down chapter in Proverbs I might say: lots of imagery of an angry king who will dole out the smack-down to those who anger him. But what I take out is a central theme of work ethics, of how we are expected as children of God to behave in the market place:

• Work hard and appropriately within the given season (Proverbs 20:4 and 20:13)
  
• A man of understanding (a fruit of wisdom which is gained through a righteous fear of the Lord) will be able to plumb the hearts and motives of his clients/partners/colleagues/... (Proverbs 20:5)
  
• Do not cheat in business (Proverbs 20:10 and 20:23)
• No amount of marketing can compete with word of mouth and we will be known by our actions (Proverbs 20:11)
• Seak out those whith knowledge and constantly seek education (Proverbs 20:15)
• Do not guarantee the loan of a stranger (Proverbs 2016) You think that some of the traders, bankers on wall street should have read this proverb a few years back before they bought up all those subprime loans?
• Fraud will never be beneficial in the long run (Proverbs 20:17)
• Be sure that your partners can work in confidence (Proverbs 20:18)
• No need to seek revenge for wrongs done to you in business, the Lord will see to their just reward (Proverbs 20:22)

This is a handy laundry list of how best to handle ourselves in the market place. I believe that such behavior will be both beneficial to the business at hand as well as to the business of the kingdom.

Peace
Dustin