Common Good

Common Good

Supporting Small Businesses and Entrepreneurs

Scripture References

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Old Testament

Deuteronomy 8:7-18

7 For the LORD your God brings you into a good land, a land of brooks of water, of springs, and underground water flowing into valleys and hills;

8 a land of wheat, barley, vines, fig trees, and pomegranates; a land of olive trees and honey;

9 a land in which you shall eat bread without scarcity, you shall not lack anything in it; a land whose stones are iron, and out of whose hills you may dig copper.

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10 You shall eat and be full, and you shall bless the LORD your God for the good land which he has given you.

11 Beware lest you forget the LORD your God, in not keeping his commandments, his ordinances, and his statutes, which I command you today;

12 lest, when you have eaten and are full, and have built fine houses and lived in them;

13 and when your herds and your flocks multiply, and your silver and your gold is multiplied, and all that you have is multiplied;

14 then your heart might be lifted up, and you forget the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage;

15 who led you through the great and terrible wilderness, with venomous snakes and scorpions, and thirsty ground where there was no water; who poured water for you out of the rock of flint;

16 who fed you in the wilderness with manna, which your fathers didn’t know, that he might humble you, and that he might prove you, to do you good at your latter end;

17 and lest you say in your heart, “My power and the might of my hand has gotten me this wealth.”

18 But you shall remember the LORD your God, for it is he who gives you power to get wealth, that he may establish his covenant which he swore to your fathers, as it is today.

New Testament

Acts 18:1-3

1 After these things Paul departed from Athens and came to Corinth.

2 He found a certain Jew named Aquila, a man of Pontus by race, who had recently come from Italy with his wife Priscilla, because Claudius had commanded all the Jews to depart from Rome. He came to them,

3 and because he practised the same trade, he lived with them and worked, for by trade they were tent makers.

Thought for the Day

Deuteronomy prepares Israel for prosperity with an unexpected warning: do not forget the Lord when the land is good. The temptation is to look at full barns and say, ‘My power has got me this wealth.’ Moses insists on a truer story. Skill, strength, and opportunity are gifts. The Lord gives power to get wealth, and therefore wealth is never a private trophy.

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Acts shows Paul living that humility in a small, ordinary way. In Corinth he stays with Aquila and Priscilla and works with his hands, sharing a trade. The apostle is not embarrassed by labour; he is glad to be supported by it.

Small businesses and new ventures often carry both hope and strain: long hours, fragile margins, unseen risk. When we buy, hire, or complain, we are dealing with people who carry mortgages, staff, and worries home at night. We honour such work best not by romanticising it, but by praying for fair dealing, honest scales, and communities where enterprise serves neighbours rather than consuming them.

Father, bless those who start, build, and repair: the shopkeeper, the contractor, the maker, the carer with a side-hustle. Keep them from pride and from despair. And teach us to see the person behind the service, as kin worth patience, respect, and thanks.

Prayer Points

Respond
  • Bless small businesses, trades, and entrepreneurs with wise counsel, fair opportunity, and steadiness.
  • Provide for employees and customers alike; shape workplaces toward humane rhythms and honest pay.
  • Guard enterprise from greed and despair; make it a service to neighbours rather than a snare.
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  • Help communities to support local work with patience, respect, and gratitude.
  • Keep us humble in success and hopeful in strain, remembering every good gift comes from you.