Why Every Young Business Needs Vegetables
November 3rd, 2006 | Michael Pink
On Day 3 of creation, God made the dry land appear, gathered together the seas, and called forth vegetation and the trees. Four things: land, sea, vegetation and trees. In recent weeks, we have spoken about the connection between land and work, the sea and what its attributes speak of (Knowledge, Attitude, Skill & Habits). Today we are going to begin looking at vegetation. Think vegetables. I know it encompasses much more, but follow along with me.
When you compare vegetables with fruit, a few things immediately come to mind. Fruit trees take years to produce fruit, some as much as 100 years; while vegetables produce a harvest in less than a year and some in as little as a month, with the right environment and nurturing. So what does this have to do with business and how does Day 3 of creation speak about priorities?
Glad you asked. Rule number one of business is “First you survive… Then you thrive”. If you are new in business, you need to seriously consider what you have to offer that is a quick turnaround. It may not make you rich, but it pays the light bill and the rent. I’m talking about vegetable clients or vegetable customers. They are service opportunities that require much less nurturing but give a quick turn around on your investment. They are not like fruit trees, which require a significant investment of time and capital. Too many start ups go broke by going for broke when they should be taking care of the vegetable opportunities, while simultaneously watering the fruit tree.
Catch the next article as we carry this thought further. If you like, you can order the entire 8 CD series with a PowerPoint called The Genesis Model.
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November 6th, 2006 at 4:40 am
I am looking forward to the rest of this I work for a compoany that really focuses on vegetable clients and ignores the fruit. I think this will provide me with some great insights to share with others in my organization
November 6th, 2006 at 9:10 pm
I believe the trick is finding the balance between fruit and vegetables. We need to vegetables to pay the bills, but we can find ourselvs stagnant if we just keep picking the same old thing. Also, if times change and no one is buying our vegetables anymore, we might find ourselves eating turnips if we haven’t been developing any fruit.
November 8th, 2006 at 2:56 pm
While I always enjoy your receiving your daily message, this particular one will definitely be distributed throughout our organization.
January 15th, 2007 at 6:13 am
While reading this article the Lord allowed me to see K.A.S.H. (cash, money), as I glanced at Knowledge, Attitude, Skill & Habit. I had not come to the reading as yet. I will truly share this with my husband who has his own business.
January 15th, 2007 at 6:13 am
While reading this article the Lord allowed me to see K.A.S.H. (cash, money), as I glanced at Knowledge, Attitude, Skill & Habit. I had not come to the reading as yet. I will truly share this with my husband who has his own business.
February 28th, 2008 at 9:59 pm
Gen 2:16-17
“And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat: 17But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.”
God’s commandment not to eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, seems to us like an arbitrary test of Adam’s faithfulness.
Some folk think God set Adam and Eve up to fail. Some folk feel like God is holding something back that we should have. That’s the trick Satan played on Eve.
Other folk, wrongly assume the tree of the knowledge of good and evil is forbidden because it’s evil.
It’s not about the tree!
The tree of the knowledge of good and evil is neither evil nor dangerous… It’s sanctified. The tree is set apart. It’s WHO the tree is set apart for that makes it forbidden!
Adam and Eve didn’t understand. They didn’t get it. They didn’t understand the principle!
The restriction not to eat the tree of the knowledge of good and evil was designed to teach them. The tree teaches us how to have an intimate relationship with God.
God made everything, including Adam. God put everything in the earth under Adam’s authority.
But everything in creation still belongs to God. The restriction on the tree was designed to teach Adam that a tithe of creation’s fruitfulness is to be separated out.
The separated out portion, the sanctified portion, represents God’s Lordship over all creation! This is the point of tithing.
The very first tithe in history was a tree in garden of Eden. God says to Adam. “I will never curse you, but if you eat the tithe you will curse yourself.”
“Of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat: for in the day that thou eatest there of thou shalt surely die.”
Watch this!
When you eat the tithe, you eat yourself out of house and home! Didn’t Adam eat himself out of Eden?
When you eat the tithe you eat yourself out of the place of blessings. Your obedience about a single tree in the center of the garden is how you show your love to God….
Many sincere Christians don’t tithe because they will tell you loud and long that tithing is not biblical; or if it is biblical it was only for Old Testament believers.
These people could not be more wrong. The revelation of scripture is that tithe is a concept, a principle. And the tithe principle is evident in both the old and new Testaments.
What’s this have to do with vegetables rather than fruit and business?
Just this. In Mal 3:10 we are told to bring the tithes into the storehouse. But in Mal 3:11 there is a promie associated with tithing. And this is it. God will rebuke the devourer for our sakes.
This simply means that when we obey basic kingdom principals than our business will prosper.
Yes, it certainly makes sense to to plant and harvest vegetables because the turn around is shorter.
It may be equally as important to be sure that our businesses are founded on fundamental business and spiritual principals.