We each have work to do. Everything we do — from the way we work to how we talk — is an act of worship to God.

One of the reasons we work is to experience happiness in God (Ecclesiastes 3:22). When we exert energy to complete a task, there is joy from accomplishing something. God is the source of all work; our meaning is found in Him, no matter what work we’re doing.

Work also gives us the financial means to meet our needs, help others and worship Jesus. By working toward something and earning a living, we are building a life of freedom. Freedom is the ability to live according to God’s directions rather than according to the restrictions of our debts or obligations. Working is how God has designed us to live in this freedom.

God wants to do work in you, not just make you accomplish tasks. Perhaps you’re in a difficult job with challenging co-workers and impossible tasks or maybe your business is experiencing difficulties. It may be a chance for you to grow in faithfulness, dedication and overcoming conflicts. When we work, our character is built and we’re better equipped to do more work God calls us to in the future (whether it’s in a career, running a business, serving others or anything else).

Ultimately, our jobs are about stewardship. We’ve been given great opportunities to use our minds, bodies, creativity and attitudes that God has allotted for us. Be responsible and grateful for the resources and abilities you have. Work because you’ve received a task from Jesus, not just income.

“Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men, 24 knowing that from the Lord you will receive the inheritance as your reward. You are serving the Lord Christ”.

Colossians 3:23-24, ESV

Over the years, I have had the privilege of mentoring and discipling a number of people that has grown leaps in bounds with their profession and their life in general. I believe that teaching others is something we should all be espousing and investing in others will truly bring exponential returns in one way or another.

One of the people I was privileged to meet just a few months ago whom  I was at awe seeing his passion and drive to have a positive impact on others — Ian Dilla, the founder of Wise Peso. I have been reading a lot of his posts and they are truly insightful. I also have the privilege of now being a good friend to Ian and I asked him to do a guest post for my site. Enjoy Ian’s thought provoking and heart warming post…

Where should my focus be?

After going through the first No Nonsense step of Mr. Randell Tiongson, improving cash flow, the tendency for a lot of us is to abandon our focus on it and shift to investing for the future

It is the first step for a reason, and it is not something that we should abandon. It is, even, not something that can be finished

When God created man, He put him in a garden to cultivate it and keep it. (Genesis 2:15)

Work is part of God’s design for man, and in the Bible, it is mentioned right after the creation of the first man, Adam. So, to cultivate and keep the garden He planted for us and put us into is to fulfill our purpose.

I used to think that when I pray, God answers it by giving me what I specifically prayed for. But when I realized that God planted a garden for each and every one of us, I understood that God answers prayers by giving us everything that we need to realize what we have been praying for.

When God planted the Garden of Eden, it had everything that Adam and Eve will ever need. The only thing they have to do is cultivate it and keep it. We can see here how God is a very practical God. Cultivating and keeping the garden is not a prerequisite that God gave Adam and Eve before He sustains them. Cultivating and keeping the garden is necessary because, simply if they don’t, the garden will die and will eventually be unable to give them sustenance.

We pray for financial freedom, a good retirement, a huge house, or a nice car. These are our goals. God does not just give us what we asked for, he answers our prayers by giving us everything that we need to realize our goals. The moment I understood this, I prayed and asked God, “What is my garden?”.

What did He give me or where did He put me to realize my goals?

His answer to me is my job and the organization I am part of…

Each one of us is currently working in the organization we are with or on a business we put up for a reason

It is not a coincidence that the first No Nonsense step, improving cash flow, is the direct result of being excellent in our job or business. Improving cash flow is the direct result of cultivating and keeping the garden God has given us

If you ever had the chance to visit provinces around the Philippines and countries around the world, you will know that there is no standard size for a place before it can be called a garden. Your backyard and Singapore’s Gardens by the Bay are both classified as a garden.

All gardens are not made equal, just like your “garden” is not as big or glamorous as your friend’s. But this doesn’t mean that your friend is better than you or God is biased towards blessing him more. This only means that God is still dealing with something in you to prepare you for your next garden. Cultivating our garden also means being excellent gardeners by improving our abilities and character.

God gives us what we need, but He also only gives us what we can handle. Imagine if you are given a huge garden but you are simply not ready for it, the pressure might destroy you and God is protecting you from that. After all, God will not keep us within the confines of our current garden if we have proved our abilities and character ready, fulfilled our mission, and cultivated the garden for Him. He Gives us a bigger Garden which also entails more challenges, but because He gave it to us, He knows that we are ready.

This is how we should approach improving cash flow. We should not abandon it when we feel like we’ve done it once or a few times. We should keep improving it by cultivating the current garden given to us by God.

Getting out of debt, setting up emergency fund, getting protected from life’s risk, and Investing for the future are all what God wants us to do. These are also found in the Bible. But improving cash flow is the product of excellent work, and work is one of God’s first and main design for man.

Ian Dilla is a Financial Adviser from Cardinal Buoy Financials and founder of the Facebook page Wise Peso. The Facebook page was able to accumulate over 20 Thousand followers in less than a year because of Ian’s distinctive and pragmatic view on personal finance. 

As a personal finance advocate, I have written over a thousand articles, columns & blogs, given over a thousand talks & lectures over a dozen nations, written and published four books on managing money and building wealth. However, if you have heard me you know that I often remind people about the true purpose of money and a stern warning about the worship of money. Instead of just being a tool, money to others becomes an idol wether they realize it or not.

Jesus knew all about gods such as Baal in the Old Testament, who tempted the Israelites to worship him for the sake of wealth. The Lord also recognized that people in his day faced a new, subtler, and perhaps even stronger temptation: to treat money as an idol like Baal, an idol to worship as a god to get what they wanted.

But humans cannot serve two kings. Jesus reminds us that when we try, we risk devoting ourselves to money and hating him as mentioned in Luke 16:13, ESV: No servant can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money. In fact, the New Testament teaches that money and greed are often the loudest and most appealing idols seeking to steal our attention. Paul declares that greed is idolatry, that to be greedy is to worship other gods: ...Don’t be greedy, for a greedy person is an idolater, worshiping the things of this world” (Colossian 3:5, NLT).

Once we remember that the Jews saw idolatry as the ultimate sin that put one outside the community of faith, we can hear the full force of Paul’s words. Idols had always threatened to steal the love, trust, and service God deserves and demands. By equating greed with idolatry, Paul provocatively told the church they didn’t have to go into a rival temple to worship another god. Their greedy hearts created other gods out of every coin in their coffers.

That is why Jesus warned his followers to watch out for all kinds of greed. His parables tell of farmers destroyed in the midst of their prosperity because they hoarded wealth and failed to be rich toward God (check out Luke 12:16–21), of rich men sent to hell for their failure to let go of their wealth for the sake of their neighbor (check out Luke 16:19–31), and of eternal judgment declared on the basis of one’s willingness to share with those in need (check out Matthew 25:31–46). All these parables point in the same direction: money wants our worship. But every bit of ourselves we give to our stuff we snatch away from our true King.

Because our material possessions so often seduce us into worshiping them like gods, they pose possibly the preeminent threat to worshiping Jesus. When we worship money, it mauls us. Money becomes a spiritual power that too often uses us rather than the other way around.

Don’t get me wrong, money is important but it should not be the end goal and it will be an idol. Here is something I need to remind myself all the time: Wealth and the ability to create wealth comes from the Lord, and it is not for our own purpose but for His.  Building wealth without the gospel makes money a hard task master and we get sucked into a whirlwind pursuit of earthly treasures.

Let us ask ourselves this question — in what ways are we tempted to worship money? Maybe it is time for a heart check.