Open Heavens 01 July 2015: Wednesday daily devotion by Pastor E. A. Adeboye – Return Reduced Wages!

Topic: Return Reduced Wages! [Wednesday July 1, 2015]

Memorise: Owe no man any thing, but to love one another: for he that loveth another hath fulfilled the law. -Romans 13:8

Read: Genesis 31:36-42 (KJV)

36 And Jacob was wroth, and chode with Laban: and Jacob answered and said to Laban, What is my trespass? What is my sin, that thou hast so hotly pursued after me?

37 Whereas thou hast searched all my stuff, what hast thou found of all thy household stuff? set it here before my brethren and thy brethren, that they may judge betwixt us both.

38 This twenty years have I been with thee; thy ewes and thy she goats have not cast their young, and the rams of thy flock have I not eaten.

39 That which was torn of beasts I brought not unto thee; I bare the loss of it; of my hand didst thou require it, whether stolen by day, or stolen by night.

40 Thus I was; in the day the drought consumed me, and the frost by night; and my sleep departed from mine eyes.

41 Thus have I been twenty years in thy house; I served thee fourteen years for thy two daughters, and six years for thy cattle: and thou hast changed my wages ten times.

42 Except the God of my father, the God of Abraham, and the fear of Isaac, had been with me, surely thou hadst sent me away now empty. God hath seen mine affliction and the labour of my hands, and rebuked thee yesternight.

Bible in One Year: 1 Chronicles 7:14-9:34; Luke 15:1-24

MESSAGE:

God is a righteous God, and as a result, He hates all forms of Fraud. According to Leviticus 19:13, it is a crime to delay your workers salary for 24 hours. Do you promptly pay your staff – whether church or secular? Another aspect of fraud is manipulating your workers’ salaries. One Bible character who was a victim of this was Jacob. All the years he worked for Laban, he suffered a great deal. He was deceived, cheated, made to bear the losses his boss should have borne and earned an ever-decreasing wage. Laban was extremely wicked. But do you know that some employers today are like Laban? They take all the gains of their businesses and push all the losses to their staff, irrespective of what caused such losses. Also, while they plan to make more profit and push their staff to work hard at it, they hardly ever plan to increase their salaries. If anything, they continue to come up with excuses as to why such salaries should remain at the same level, or even be reduced.

Laban reduced Jacob’s wages 10 times. If you are happy to cut down your staff salaries rather than increase them, though your business is not diminishing, you are toying with Hell. If your business cannot afford an employee anymore, it is better to let such staff go after paying their entitlements. Take note of the words of Romans 13:8:

“Owe no man any thing, but to love one another. For he that loveth another hath fulfilled the law.”

Every cent, kobo or penny you fraudulently cut off the wages of your staff amounts to a debt you owe them. Also, the fact that you owe your staff shows your lack of love for them. You cannot be cutting down the salary or wages of those you love, while your business is doing fine. Do not be surprised that some employers who claim to be believers in Christ will die and get to the gate of Heaven, only to be told that they cannot enter in because of the debt they owe their staff. At that checkpoint, the entire amount owed will be found on them. They will then say “I am sorry; I am now prepared to pay the debts I owe my staff”, but the angles will say “Sorry, it’s too late.” The money such persons fraudulently stole from their staff will follow them to Hell-fire and torment them there for eternity. For your own good, go and restitute all the wages you have cut off without just cause.

Key Point: Besides pride, another vice that God cannot stand in people is breaking of agreements. If you make a promise, you must keep it.

Open Heavens Daily Devotional guide was written by Pastor E.A. Adeboye, the General Overseer of the Redeemed Christian Church of God, one of the largest evangelical church in the world and also the President of Christ the Redeemer's Ministries.

Click HERE to read more Open Heavens Devotional