BUSINESS

God does not disapprove of honest business, when it is subjected to Him:

PRO 16:11 A just weight and balance are the LORD'S: all the weights of the bag are his work.

JAM 4:13 Go to now, ye that say, To day or to morrow we will go into such a city, and continue there a year, and buy and sell, and get gain:
15 For that ye ought to say, If the Lord will, we shall live, and do this, or that.

God does disapprove of dishonest business: 

ISA 1:21 How is the faithful city become an harlot! it was full of judgment; righteousness lodged in it; but now murderers.
22 Thy silver is become dross, thy wine mixed with water:
23 Thy princes are rebellious, and companions of thieves: every one loveth gifts, and followeth after rewards: they judge not the fatherless, neither doth the cause of the widow come unto them.
24 Therefore saith the Lord, the LORD of hosts, the mighty One of Israel, Ah, I will ease me of mine adversaries, and avenge me of mine enemies:
25 And I will turn my hand upon thee, and purely purge away thy dross, and take away all thy tin:
26 And I will restore thy judges as at the first, and thy counsellors as at the beginning: afterward thou shalt be called, The city of righteousness, the faithful city.

PRO 20:10 Divers weights, and divers measures, both of them are alike abomination to the LORD.

PRO 20:23 Divers weights are an abomination unto the LORD; and a false balance is not good.

The old joke on TV shows the butcher with his thumb pressing down on the scale to cause the meat to cost more. Similarly, a scale which is rigged to show more weight than is present is false, a lie, and an abomination. 

MIC 6:10 Are there yet the treasures of wickedness in the house of the wicked, and the scant measure that is abominable?
11 Shall I count them pure with the wicked balances, and with the bag of deceitful weights?
12 For the rich men thereof are full of violence, and the inhabitants thereof have spoken lies, and their tongue is deceitful in their mouth.
13 Therefore also will I make thee sick in smiting thee, in making thee desolate because of thy sins.
14 Thou shalt eat, but not be satisfied; and thy casting down shall be in the midst of thee; and thou shalt take hold, but shalt not deliver; and that which thou deliverest will I give up to the sword.
15 Thou shalt sow, but thou shalt not reap; thou shalt tread the olives, but thou shalt not anoint thee with oil; and sweet wine, but shalt not drink wine.
 

INTEREST

The Lord does not consider paying interest to be wrong out of hand, although the Proverbs contain many warnings about the misuse of debt. On the correct use of interest: 

MAT 25:14 For the kingdom of heaven is as a man travelling into a far country, who called his own servants, and delivered unto them his goods.
15 And unto one he gave five talents, to another two, and to another one; to every man according to his several ability; and straightway took his journey.
16 Then he that had received the five talents went and traded with the same, and made them other five talents.
17 And likewise he that had received two, he also gained other two.
18 But he that had received one went and digged in the earth, and hid his lord's money.
19 After a long time the lord of those servants cometh, and reckoneth with them.
20 And so he that had received five talents came and brought other five talents, saying, Lord, thou deliveredst unto me five talents: behold, I have gained beside them five talents more.
21 His lord said unto him, Well done, thou good and faithful servant: thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things: enter thou into the joy of thy lord.
22 He also that had received two talents came and said, Lord, thou deliveredst unto me two talents: behold, I have gained two other talents beside them.
23 His lord said unto him, Well done, good and faithful servant; thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things: enter thou into the joy of thy lord.
24 Then he which had received the one talent came and said, Lord, I knew thee that thou art an hard man, reaping where thou hast not sown, and gathering where thou hast not strawed:
25 And I was afraid, and went and hid thy talent in the earth: lo, there thou hast that is thine.
26 His lord answered and said unto him, Thou wicked and slothful servant, thou knewest that I reap where I sowed not, and gather where I have not strawed:
27 Thou oughtest therefore to have put my money to the exchangers, and then at my coming I should have received mine own with usury.
28 Take therefore the talent from him, and give it unto him which hath ten talents.
29 For unto every one that hath shall be given, and he shall have abundance: but from him that hath not shall be taken away even that which he hath.
30 And cast ye the unprofitable servant into outer darkness: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
 

FRUIT-BEARING

In the parable of the Talents, we find the Lord's attitude towards those who bear no fruit: what they have shall be taken away, followed by punishment. Jesus spoke this regarding fruit bearing: 

LUK 13:6 He spake also this parable; A certain man had a fig tree planted in his vineyard; and he came and sought fruit thereon, and found none.
7 Then said he unto the dresser of his vineyard, Behold, these three years I come seeking fruit on this fig tree, and find none: cut it down; why cumbereth it the ground?
8 And he answering said unto him, Lord, let it alone this year also, till I shall dig about it, and dung it:
9 And if it bear fruit, well: and if not, then after that thou shalt cut it down.

JOH 15:1 I am the true vine, and my Father is the husbandman.
2 Every branch in me that beareth not fruit he taketh away: and every branch that beareth fruit, he purgeth it, that it may bring forth more fruit.
3 Now ye are clean through the word which I have spoken unto you.
4 Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in me.
5 I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing.
6 If a man abide not in me, he is cast forth as a branch, and is withered; and men gather them, and cast them into the fire, and they are burned.
7 If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you.
8 Herein is my Father glorified, that ye bear much fruit; so shall ye be my disciples.
9 As the Father hath loved me, so have I loved you: continue ye in my love.
10 If ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my love; even as I have kept my Father's commandments, and abide in his love.
11 These things have I spoken unto you, that my joy might remain in you, and that your joy might be full.

Notice carefully verse 2 and verse 6 where non-bearing branches IN HIM, unfaithful Christians, will be lost. In verse 8 his disciples are defined in that they bear MUCH FRUIT. Jesus commands "CONTINUE in my love -- KEEP my commandments", that His joy might REMAIN in us. That we must sustain our effort unto death is the message, or be taken away and cast into the fire. 
 

SAVE EARLY / COMPOUNDING

Now to take a present example using interest: The IRA, or Individual Retirement Account. The government has provided tax benefits to the saver who will put away up to $2000 each year in this special account. From the table and graphs I have with me, it is not obvious upon first reflection the facts regarding the young man who will put away $2000 every year starting at an age of 19, but who stops saving after the age of 26. He is contrasted with the man born the same year, who at the age of 27 will put away $2000 every year thereafter until he is 65. Assuming a yearly return or interest rate of 10% for this example, we find that the man who saved early, for only 8 years, putting away only $16,000 will have more money after the age of 65 than the man who put away a total of $78,000 over 38 years -- 30 MORE YEARS. He will have $151,975 MORE dollars than the man who "saved late". ¹

(See TABLE-1)

We can use this example for preaching the word, teaching the lost, and bringing souls to conversion and salvation, bearing the richest fruit of the kingdom. 

Take 2 men of the same age. One is saved at the age of 19 and begins to teach others, and for this example, let him convert and baptize one person every year for 8 years. And let each person who is converted also convert and baptize one person every year for the next 46 years. Let us then say that this young man is cut off from life, and is therefore no longer teaching and converting. 

Another man born the same year is saved at the age of 27 and begins to teach others, and for this example, let him convert and baptize one person every year for the next 38 years. And let each person who is converted also convert and baptize one person every year for the next 38 years. 

When we compare the total fruit of each man by the total number of saved souls, we find that the man who "saved early" will have converted 255 times as many persons, even though he dies after 8 years of teaching. As a result of his teaching, over 140 Trillion are saved in this ideal example at year 65. However, the result of the teaching of the man who "saved later" is a fewer 550 Billion saved. And he has directly converted 38 souls over the years vs. only 8 souls converted by the man who "saved early". 

(See TABLE-2)

You may have heard the partially true civic quip: 'Vote early and often'. 

It is good to vote early so you don't forget, or to prevent something from coming up to keep you away from the polls while they are open. But the 'vote often' is refers to those persons who cheat by going around to more than one polling place to cast extra, illegal votes. 

Let me give you a better quip: 'Save early and often'. 
 

REMEMBER THE CREATOR

The Teacher well advised in Ecclesiastes: 

ECC 11:9 Rejoice, O young man, in thy youth; and let thy heart cheer thee in the days of thy youth, and walk in the ways of thine heart, and in the sight of thine eyes: but know thou, that for all these things God will bring thee into judgment.
10 Therefore remove sorrow from thy heart, and put away evil from thy flesh: for childhood and youth are vanity.
12:1 Remember now thy Creator in the days of thy youth, while the evil days come not, nor the years draw nigh, when thou shalt say, I have no pleasure in them;
 

USE OF OUR TIME

We must therefore redeem the time: 

EPH 5:15 See then that ye walk circumspectly, not as fools, but as wise,
16 Redeeming the time, because the days are evil.
17 Wherefore be ye not unwise, but understanding what the will of the Lord is.

COL 4:5 Walk in wisdom toward them that are without, redeeming the time.
6 Let your speech be alway with grace, seasoned with salt, that ye may know how ye ought to answer every man.

1PE 3:15 But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts: and be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear:
16 Having a good conscience; that, whereas they speak evil of you, as of evildoers, they may be ashamed that falsely accuse your good conversation in Christ.

Understand the will of the Lord, know how to answer every man, and redeem the time. 
 

LIFE IS SHORT

JAM 4:13 Go to now, ye that say, To day or to morrow we will go into such a city, and continue there a year, and buy and sell, and get gain:
14 Whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away.
15 For that ye ought to say, If the Lord will, we shall live, and do this, or that.

ACT 24:24 And after certain days, when Felix came with his wife Drusilla, which was a Jewess, he sent for Paul, and heard him concerning the faith in Christ.
25 And as he reasoned of righteousness, temperance, and judgment to come, Felix trembled, and answered, Go thy way for this time; when I have a convenient season, I will call for thee.

No man knows when he will be called from this life. We should save early and often, not waiting for a convenient season. 

_________________ 
 

FOOTNOTE

1. PARADIGM Financial Corp.

The Importance of Investing Early 

http://www.paradigmfinancial.com/education_investearly.htm