Article November 1, 2013

One business

Originally published in the October 16, 1911 issue of The Christian Science Monitor

When Jesus at the age of twelve was sought by his mother while he was hearing and asking questions of the doctors in the temple, he answered her, “Wist ye not that I must be about my Father's business?” Something not yet understood by her was taking him into scenes and surroundings she had not planned for him. Serving God, he went where this service led him; did what this service demanded of him. No single account in the Scriptures shows Jesus as serving himself or the selfish interests of any person or persons about him. The work of glorifying God and of establishing the kingdom of God in the hearts of men was upon him, and with unswerving purpose he went about it.

All men today surely should be engaged in just one business,—the business of being and doing right. Whatever the outward activities may be, whatever the daily routine, the service of good should be uppermost. Many people confine their thought of business to commercial or industrial enterprises, to the activities which bring material gain or income; and trying to manage these through merely human capacities and talents, are beset with many perplexities. The dictionaries tell us that one’s business is that which busies one, or that which engages the time, attention, or labor of any one as his principal concern or interest. Then, whatever may be the work for the day, the “principal concern or interest” of serving good can be paramount and so be rightly considered one’s real business. And, however much time and attention external things demand, the constant effort to be and to do right can keep one steadily employed.

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