I have been wanting to start a series covering some business practices and tips that we can find from Jesus and the Bible. There is so much content that can be applied to business that we Christians should have knowledge about. Some of these articles will be limited to just Christians, but others can really be used by anyone. Lets start with this first principle.
John 21: 3-6
Many of us become so used to the skill and talent that we have that we feel like there is not much more we can learn from others. We know how to perform our craft and we have mastered it. This we something that Jesus’s apostle Peter had done with fishing. Peter made a career out of fishing and he knew what he was doing when he went out to sea. Then one day he had fished all evening and had not caught a thing. Then Jesus came to them and told them to cast their net on the opposite side of the boat. When they did, they needed help because they had so many fish that came into their net. I had heard this story for so long, but never understood that Jesus had just blessed Peter’s business through Peter’s faith in his actions.
Many of us have a tendency to separate our “Christian” side when we get to the secular marketplace. There are many different reasons and approaches to addressing the world in a secular marketplace that doesn’t expose the Gospel explicitly. In this case Peter received instruction from the Lord in an area he was very familiar with and it may have seemed like a waste of time to Peter, but he did it anyway. When he obeyed, he caught so many fish that he had to call for help to finish the job. Isn’t that amazing?
Now how can we learn from Peter and apply it to our business/side hustle? As a rule of thumb we should always be listening to the Holy Spirit in every area of our live. Even so, there are often times where we get stuck. We may be at a fork in a road, need to make a change, or even have to figure out a way to cut budget somewhere. We don’t have Jesus in the physical to tell us how to proceed, but remember, Jesus often uses people to do his work and share his message. His message can come from anyone whether they are in your line of work or not. Be more attentive to those around you and take others thoughts into consideration. Even if they don’t have the answer, they could say something that may trigger the answer. Then depending on how important the decision is, you should apply the appropriate amount of time to pray about it. I also wanted to share an additional thought which I got from Dezzy Yates when he saw that I was writing about this. When he thought of casting your net to the other side he thought of fishing in other areas rather than the same one. This is another great thing to pull out of this story because sometimes we just need a little adjustment in where we are fishing. It doesn’t always mean going into a different marketplace or another body of water. Maybe your next step is actually right behind you in another spot.
As believers we have an advantage in the marketplace who lives inside of us and he is the Holy Spirit. No matter what the circumstance he is our “Wonderful Counselor” and you should never forget that he is pulling for you.
