Blessed are the Payroll Makers

Payroll MakersBy R.E. Olsen

What does the Bible say about the duties of payroll makers to their workers?

“You are to pay them their wages each day before the sun sets, because they are poor and are counting on it.” ~Deuteronomy 24:15

Hey Payroll Maker,

I have been observing you my whole life.

Somehow or other you came through each week making sure you kept your end of the bargain. I showed up and did what you asked. Then I got paid. Over the years I got married, raised a family, and worked. You made sure the money was there.

Many years you worked for nothing, plowing the money back into the business. Some years you got a big reward, made up for the lean years. I know you did not do this for me. Nevertheless I am grateful, you figured out a way to get money for me.

I laugh when the politicians say they are deciding when to “reopen the economy.” They have no ability to make prosperity. If they could, they would do it. But a good payroll man… he knows his own business, how to work long hours, how to worry, how to invest, how to build his product, how to get purchase orders.

You and the other payroll makers are the only ones that can “open this economy” – by getting up at 4 am, unlocking the door, hanging the open sign, and then doing all those things I do not understand that make a business successful.

If you have been knocked down, if you have to start over, I ask you to do it. I will be there Monday and see you Friday for my paycheck. And by the way—

Thanks.

When things are right, the Boss is a blessing and the Worker is a blessing.

Ruth Chapter 2

In the days when the judges ruled, there was a famine in the land. So a man from Bethlehem in Judah, together with his wife and two sons, went to live for a while in the country of Moab. The man’s name was Elimelek, his wife’s name was Naomi, and the names of his two sons were Mahlon and Kilion.

Now Elimelek, Naomi’s husband, died, and she was left with her two sons. They married Moabite women, one named Orpah and the other Ruth. After they had lived there about ten years, both Mahlon and Kilion also died, and Naomi was left without her two sons and her husband.

Naomi returned from Moab accompanied by Ruth the Moabite, her daughter-in-law, arriving in Bethlehem as the barley harvest was beginning.

Now Naomi had a relative on her husband’s side, a man of standing from the clan of Elimelek, whose name was Boaz.

And Ruth the Moabite said to Naomi, “Let me go to the fields and pick up the leftover grain behind anyone in whose eyes I find favor.”

Naomi said to her, “Go ahead, my daughter.” So she went out, entered a field and began to glean behind the harvesters. As it turned out, she was working in a field belonging to Boaz, who was from the clan of Elimelek.

Just then Boaz arrived from Bethlehem and greeted the harvesters, “The Lord be with you!”

“The Lord bless you!” they answered.

Boaz asked the overseer of his harvesters, “Who does that young woman belong to?”

The overseer replied, “She is the Moabite who came back from Moab with Naomi. She said, ‘Please let me glean and gather among the sheaves behind the harvesters.’ She came into the field and has remained here from morning till now, except for a short rest in the shelter.”

So Boaz said to Ruth, “My daughter, listen to me. Don’t go and glean in another field and don’t go away from here. Stay here with the women who work for me.”

So Ruth stayed close to the women of Boaz to glean until the barley and wheat harvests were finished. And she lived with her mother-in-law.

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Many people complain about their boss. But the story of Ruth gives us a glimpse into the way things should be. The manager blesses his work force; and instead of cursing their boss, the workers bless him. Both the manager and the workers benefit from each other. The employees work hard, and the owner rewards them. This relationship makes for a productive and healthy workplace.

“Trust me in this,” says the Lord Almighty, “and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that there will not be room enough to store it.” ~Malachi 3:10

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About the Author: A homeschool dad of three young men, R.E. Olsen takes his role of spiritual head of the household seriously. He also seeks to impart God’s truth to anyone who will listen.

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