Amen. I already prayed, so I'm not gonna do that again. But we're gonna go ahead and record this sermon, so. Proverbs 24, verse 30. I went by the field of the slothful and by the vineyard of the man, void of understanding. And lo, it was all grown over with thorns and nettles, had covered the face thereof, and the stone wall thereof was broken down. And I saw and considered it well. I looked upon it and received instruction. Yet a little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to sleep, so shall thy poverty come as one that traveleth, and thy want as an armed man. So I'm preaching to myself tonight, as it so happens that I am about to find myself wanting for employment. While losing my job is not the end of the world, I do find myself with some anxiety about what the future will bring. I've wanted to start a business for some time now, but being busy with a full-time job, it just wasn't something that I made a priority. As long as the bills get paid and the groceries keep showing up, I just get settled into a job and keep going there day after day until something drastic occurs and causes me to have to move on to something else. I left my last job over 10 years ago when we decided as a church to move to Missouri from Texas. I didn't immediately find a new job when we got here. I spent some time staying home, trying to help my wife and family adjust to the new lifestyle that we had adopted as hillbillies. I managed to find time to fish and mow the lawn in between the chores of killing spiders and cleaning out buckets. I figured out how to kill a deer and field dressed the carcass and Christy helped me process the meat. We cooked over fires of wood that Caleb helped me chop. It was a learning experience for us all. But eventually, I became aware of the fact that I was going to have to get busy and start bringing in an income again. And God provided a job for me. I went out and bought a newspaper in the Ozark County Times, and there in the want ads was a job opening at a cabinet shop. So I applied for it, and after a couple of weeks, I was learning a new trade. And God has blessed me at that job. But now it's time again to move on to the next thing that God has for me. One of the things that I've observed in my time at Tecumseh Cabinets is that my boss, we'll call him William, has a much greater drive to get the work done than I do. And that's understandable, seeing as it is his business. And if he wants to succeed and make a good living, it's up to him to make sure that the work gets done. An hourly employee like myself doesn't feel the pressure that the owner of a small business feels, especially when the owner has made every effort to keep his employees busy and getting paid even when there wasn't much work to do. I hope that some of that is rubbed off on me as I try to start a business of my own, that I would be motivated to go to work and not be slothful in my business. Proverbs 6, verse 6 is, go to the aunt thou sluggard, consider her ways and be wise, which having no guide, overseer, or ruler, provideth her meat in the summer and gathereth her food in the harvest. A small business owner must be able to rule himself like the aunt. No one is standing over him to tell him what must be done and when to do it. Like the aunt, he must always be busy laboring while there is work to do in order to have something in store for when there is less money coming in. Sometimes my boss would be getting so far ahead of me, building a third set of cabinet face frames while I'm still finishing the first set, I'd wish he would slow down a little so I would not get buried in cabinets. But he was relentless. But when the jobs were few and things were slower, he always kept giving me a paycheck, so I'm grateful for that. Proverbs 14, verse 23 says, in all labor there is profit, but the talk of the lips tendeth only to penury. Not every job is going to be something to get excited about. Some jobs you just don't want to do. But being willing to do the jobs that you don't want to do will make people want to give you the jobs that other people covet. I don't recall many times when people wanted a job done that my boss wasn't willing to take the job and make me do it. That is the benefit of having employees. Sometimes you can take jobs that you don't want to do and have them done by someone else. But my boss wouldn't have us do anything dangerous or anything he wouldn't be willing to do himself. Proverbs 18 verse 9 says, he also that is slothful in his work is brother to him that is a great waster. My boss was not one to waste anything. If it could be reused, he would save it. We had cans of paint and stain piled up on shelves just in case we ever needed to make wood of that color again. And we would make use of many of them over the course of my time there, so I can't fault the man, even if I found the collection of old cans difficult to deal with at times. I'm sure that if I had paid for all those cans myself, I would feel the same way about saving them. But I would like to see my collection a little more organized. So these are some good lessons that I think I learned from my time working at the cabinet shop. And I hope that I can apply some of them to my future endeavors to run a business of my own. I'm hoping I can provide employment for others who need also to be able to make a living, like some young men that I know. But I also want to remind myself that the Lord told us that we shouldn't put earthly riches before the kingdom of God. Colossians 3, if ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God. Set your affections on things above, not on things on the earth. Matthew 6 verse 19 says, We should not be slothful in regard to laboring for the master who has bought us with his own blood. Our earthly labor is part of serving Jesus. We should be diligent in our work and have a good testimony towards those who we do business with. But we should reckon the heavenly treasures as more to be desired than money or reputation. And we should remember that we will have to give an account of our business that we have conducted in his absence. In Matthew 25, verse 14 says, for the kingdom of heaven as a man traveling into a far country who called his own servants and delivered unto them his goods. 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. Then he that had received the five talents went and traded with the same and made them other five talents. And likewise, he that had received two, he also gained other two. But he that had received the one went and digged in the earth and hid his lord's money. After a long time, the lord of those servants cometh and reckoneth with them. And so he that had received five talents came and brought other five talents, saying, Lord, thou deliverest unto me five talents. Behold, I have gained beside them five talents more. 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 the Lord. He also that had received two talents came and said, Lord, thou delivered unto me two talents. Behold, I have gained two other talents beside them. 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 the Lord. Then he which had received the one talent came and said, Lord, I knew thee, that thou art a hard man, reaping where thou hast not sown, and gathering where thou hast not strawed. And I was afraid, and went, and hid thy talent in the earth. Lo, there thou hast that is thine.' 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. Thou oughtest therefore to have put my money to the exchangers, and then at my coming I should have received mine own with usury. Take therefore the talent from him, and give it unto him which hath ten talents. For unto everyone 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. And cast ye the unprofitable servant into outer darkness. There shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth. I know that when the Lord comes back, I don't want to hear him say that to me. cast me into outer darkness." I want to hear, well done, thou good and faithful servant. And so we need to be busy doing the things that God has given us to do while we wait for him to return. It says he didn't give them more than they could handle. He gave unto them, according to their several abilities, that man that got that one talent. He could have done something with it, but he didn't. He buried it. And what a shame. Romans 12, verse 10 says, be kindly affectioned one to another with brotherly love and honor, preferring one another, not slothful in business, fervent in spirit, serving the Lord, rejoicing in hope, patient in tribulation, continuing instant in prayer, distributing to the necessity of saints, given to hospitality. We should not seek to become wealthy for the sake of wealth, but to be able to help those in need. But if we are made poor by our own slothfulness, then how should we be able to distribute to the necessity of the saints? So like I said, I'm just preaching to myself to encourage myself to do more with the time that God's given me and I have some things that I would like to pray for after we finish this sermon, but let me go ahead and just close with that. Father God, Lord, I thank you so much, God, for your wisdom in your Bible, and Lord, I thank you for just the blessing that my job has been to me, God, and I just pray, Lord, that you would help me as I go forward to do your will, God, And Lord, I thank you so much for all the blessings that you've given me, for my family, for my church, for my home, Lord, and for the jobs that I've had, the jobs that I will have, Lord. God, I thank you for your son, Jesus, most of all, who died to save me from my sins, which are many. I thank you, Lord, for bringing me to this place in my life. It's in Jesus' name I pray, amen.