Easy Reading Edition

8
Working for Success
February 18–24

—FEBRUARY 18
SABBATH—DATE
SABBATH
READ FOR THIS WEEK’S LESSON: Ecclesiastes 12:1;
Genesis 2:15; 1 Timothy 5:8; Genesis 39:2–5; Proverbs
3:5–8.

MEMORY VERSE: “In all the work you are doing, work the
best you can. Work as if you were working for the Lord,
not for men. Remember that you will receive [get] your
reward from the Lord, which he promised to his people.
You are serving the Lord Christ [Jesus]” (Colossians
3:23, 24, ICB).

MOST PEOPLE WANT SUCCESS and happiness in life.

But we live on a planet filled with sin. Disaster can happen
at any time. So, we may not get the happiness or success
we want in this life.
What is success? Not everyone’s idea of success is
the same. Look at Joseph. He went from a prison to a
king’s palace. His life was a success, right? But what
about John the Baptist? He went from prison to the
grave. Was John’s life a success? The answer depends
on your idea of success.
This week, we will study success and money. We will
learn some important rules for managing money. We all can
agree that money is a big part of our lives. So, we need to
We can all agree know how to manage money wisely. What things can we
that money is a big part
do to manage our money wisely? How can we suceed with
of our lives.
managing our money? How can we avoid mistakes with
managing our money?

60 WORKING FOR SUCCESS

 SUNDAY—FEBRUARY 19 Lesson 8
SOME IMPORTANT QUESTIONS (Ecclesiastes 12:1)

Read Ecclesiastes 12:1. What’s the message for us in

this verse?

When we become adults, we must take care of our basic

needs. We will need food, clothing, and a place to live. But
before we do anything, we must put God first. When we put
God first, He will take care of our needs. As Jesus says, “ ‘What
you should want most is God’s kingdom and doing what he
wants you to do. Then he will give you all these other things
you need’ ” (Matthew 6:33, ERV). What if you already are older
and didn’t choose to serve Jesus when you were young? Is it
too late to make the right decision to manage money wisely?
Of course not! You can learn.
As we saw in Genesis 28:20–22, Jacob makes some
important life decisions about money and God. First, God
comes to Jacob in a dream. The Lord introduces Himself to
Jacob as “ ‘the Lord, the God of your grandfather Abraham.
I am the God of Isaac’ ” (Genesis 28:13, ERV). Then Jacob
makes a promise to God. As part of his promise, Jacob says,
“ ‘the Lord will be my God’ ” (Genesis 28:21, ERV).

Read the story in Genesis 29:9–20 about Jacob and

Rachel. What happens before Jacob meets Rachel? (Read
Genesis 28.) What does the answer teach us about what
we need to do first before we make big decisions in life?

First, Jacob promises to serve God with his whole heart

and all his money. Then God leads Jacob to Rachel at the
well (read Genesis 29:9–20). What does this story show us?
One thing the story shows us is that we must make our spiri-
tual decision to serve God before we get married. We should
decide what job we want to do in life before we get married, When we become adults,
we must take care of our
too. Here are some questions you should ask yourself before
basic needs. We will need
you get married: (1) Does the person I want to marry love food, clothing, and
God? (2) What type of job or work will he or she do? Will this a place to live.
person be a teacher, a nurse, a lawyer? (3) What type of life
will the two of you have together? (4) How much education
does this person have? (5) How much money does this per-
son owe? (6) Are you willing to be responsible for paying this
money back?

Read the important rule in 2 Corinthians 6:14, 15. How

can this rule help you choose the best marriage partner?

S WORKING FOR SUCCESS 61

 Lesson 8 MONDAY—FEBRUARY 20
THE BLESSING OF WORK (Genesis 2:15)

Maybe you are blessed enough to have lots of money.

So, you don’t need to work. But most of us need to earn
a living. What type of work should you do? First, find work
that makes you happy. This work also should pay good
money. Then you may need to get special training. Next,
you will need to find a job. You will need to do this job until
you retire. We all want to find the perfect job that makes us
happy. But life doesn’t always happen that way.

What does the Bible teach us about work? Read

Genesis 2:15 for the answer. (Also read Ecclesiastes
9:10 and 2 Thessalonians 3:8–10.) God gave Adam and
Eve work before they sinned. How does this information
help us understand why work is important for humans?

The Bible shows us that work is not punishment. Work

is a blessing. God gave humans work in Eden. No sin, no
death, and no suffering were in Eden before the Fall. But
work was a part of Adam and Eve’s perfect life before sin.
So, we see that God knew that humans needed to work.
The Bible shows us that
“God gave Adam work. Adam’s job was to care for the
work is not punishment.
Work is a blessing. Garden of Eden. God knew that Adam couldn’t be happy
without working. Adam loved the beauty of the Garden.
But its beauty was not enough for him. Adam needed to do
work that would exercise his wonderful body. If man needed
to do nothing to be happy, God would have given Adam no
work to do. But God made man. So, God knew best what
man needed to be happy. As soon as God made man, God
gave him his job. God promises humans a future reward in
heaven. This same God also said that humans must work
for their food.”—Ellen G. White, Our High Calling, page
223, adapted.
After the Fall, sin made work more difficult. God said to
Adam: “ ‘So I am putting a curse on the ground because of
what you did. All the days of your life you will have to work
hard. It will be painful for you to get food from the ground’ ”
(Genesis 3:17, NIrV). Do you see that God cursed the ground
“because of what you [Adam] did”? This idea shows us that
God understood that work was necessary for Adam after he
sinned.

In what way is work a blessing? How does work help

us? Why do we, as sinners, need work?

62 WORKING FOR SUCCESS

 TUESDAY—FEBRUARY 21 Lesson 8
OUR WORKING YEARS (1 Timothy 5:8)

As we saw yesterday, God wants humans to work. The

part of our lives when we work is named “the working
years.” The working years often continue for about 40 years
of our lives. During this time, many families have children.
They buy houses. They send their kids to school. The family
learns to work together at this time, too. Family members
learn to love each other. This love can continue for a life-
time. Money problems can hurt a marriage during the work-
ing years. Families will have success if they put God first.
Families also must follow important Bible rules for success.
These rules will make the family stronger.

Read 1 Timothy 5:8; Proverbs 14:23; and Colossians

3:23, 24. What important Bible rules can we learn from
these verses? How can these rules help families man-
age their money?

In many families, the father earns the most money. Often,

both the husband and wife work. Disaster can happen:
sickness, job loss, whatever. These disasters can make
paying bills difficult. So, families may need to change their
spending habits during these times.
During the working years, families may have children.
The Bible tells us, “Children are a gift from the Lord. Babies
are a reward” (Psalm 127:3, ICB). We must remember that
children need a lot of love and care. Christian parents must
teach their children to become adults who can take care of
their own needs. Parents also need to help their children
get ready for heaven.
Here are three important rules to help parents:
1. Give your children a Christian home. Have family
worship with your children morning and evening. Take them
to Sabbath School and church each week. Teach them to
give offerings to God and pay tithe. (As we learned, tithe is
10% of all the money we get from work or as a gift.) Teach
these habits to your children early in life.
2. Teach your children to love work. Children will learn
that people will reward their hard work. Teach your children
that paychecks come from doing tasks that other people
want done and doing these tasks well. “Children are a gift from
3. Help pay for your children’s education. Education is the Lord. Babies are a
expensive today. So, help your kids if you can afford to help reward” (Psalm 127:3, ICB).
them. The money you pay is worth the cost.

WORKING FOR SUCCESS 63

 Lesson 8 WEDNESDAY—FEBRUARY 22
BE AN HONEST WORKER (Genesis 39:2–5)

God asks us to be honest workers. He wants other peo-

ple to respect us and our work. Respect starts with God’s
law. We must ask God to write His law in our hearts (read
Jeremiah 31:33). Then we will have success in our work.
The Bible says, “It is better to be respected than to be rich.
A good name is worth more than silver or gold” (Proverbs
22:1, ERV).
In the Bible, we read stories about workers who did an
excellent job. Their bosses saw that God blessed the work
of these men and women. God also blessed their bosse­s,
too. Examples of good workers are Ruth, Joseph, and
Jacob. When Jacob wanted to leave Laban, his father-in-
law, Laban, asked him not to leave. “Laban said to him, ‘If I
have pleased you, please stay. I know the Lord has blesse­d
Examples of good workers me because of you’ ” (Genesis 30:27, ICB). We see the
are Ruth, Joseph, and Jacob. same thing happen in Joseph’s story after his brothers sell
him into slavery in Egypt. Joseph’s new master, Potiphar,
also sees that God has blessed Joseph’s work. So, Potiphar
rewards Joseph.

Read the story about Joseph in Genesis 39:2–5. What

did Joseph do that caused his master to praise him?

The Bible commands, “So if you eat or drink or whatever

you do, do everything to honor God” (1 Corinthians 10:31,
NLV). This important rule teaches us that we must honor
God with our money, our jobs, and everything else we do.
God gives us knowledge and strength to succeed in life.
“ ‘Lord, you are great and powerful. You have glory, victory
and honor. Everything in heaven and on earth belongs to
you. The kingdom belongs to you, Lord. You are the ruler
over everything. Riches and honor come from you. You rule
everything. You have the power and strength to make any-
one great and strong’ ” (1 Chronicles 29:11, 12, ICB).

What important Bible rules are you following with

your work and your life? What changes do you need to
make?

64 WORKING FOR SUCCESS

 THURSDAY—FEBRUARY 23 Lesson 8
GETTING GOOD ADVICE (Proverbs 3:5–8)

There are many money experts today. But God warns us

not to trust their advice. “Happy is the person who doesn’t
listen to the wicked [evil person]. He [the happy person]
doesn’t go where sinners go. He doesn’t do what bad peo-
ple do. He loves the Lord’s teachings. He thinks about those
teachings day and night. He is strong, like [the same as] a
tree planted by a river. It produces fruit in season. Its leaves
don’t die. Everything he does will succeed” (Psalm 1:1–3,
ICB).

Read the important rule in Proverbs 3:5–8. How can

following this rule help you manage your money better?

Let’s look at seven Bible rules for managing money:

1. Make a spending plan (Luke 14:28–32). Many fami-
lies don’t have a spending plan. They spend their whole pay-
check each time they get paid. Without a plan for earning,
saving, and spending, life can be full of stress.
2. Spend less than you earn (Proverbs 15:16). Many
families in Western countries spend more than they earn
because they own credit cards. Then these families owe
a lot of money, or have debt. Debt is money we owe. Debt
causes many problems.
3. Save something from every paycheck (Proverbs
6:6–8). We save to buy larger and more expensive things in
the future. We save to take care of expenses we didn’t plan
for. Savings can help us when we get sick or can’t work.
4. Avoid debt (Proverbs 22:7). Debt is borrowed money.
When we borrow money, we really are living today on
money we expect to earn in the future. So, borrowed money
is money we really don’t own. If we lose our job, how can we
pay off the debt? If we can’t, we will be embarrassed.
5. Work hard and carefully. (Proverbs 6:6–8). “The lazy
person will not get what he wants. But a hard worker gets
everything he wants” (Proverbs 13:4, ICB).
6. Pay tithe (Deuteronomy 28:1–14). As we saw, tithe
is 10% of all the money we get. When we pay our tithe and Save something
offerings, God will bless us. All families need God’s blessing. from every paycheck.
7. Remember that this earth is not our real home. How
we manage our money shows people where we keep our
treasure: on earth or in heaven (read Matthew 6:21; Luke
12:34).

WORKING FOR SUCCESS 65

 Lesson 8 FRIDAY—FEBRUARY 24
ADDITIONAL THOUGHT: “We must think about the future
whenever we make business plans or other plans in life. We
must not plan only for our lives now. . . . When we put our
treasure in heaven, God will make our lives on this earth better
and richer.”—Ellen G. White, Education, page 145, adapted.
“Real success in business comes from our understand-
ing that everything we have comes from God. God made
everything. So, God is the Owner of everything, too. We are
God’s managers. He gave us everything we have. He trusts
us with His stuff. He commands us to use His things as He
commands.”—Education, page 137, adapted.
Many people think that the money they make only is for
taking care of their families. But as Christians, we must do
our part to help other people, too. We must use our money
to support God’s work on earth (read Mark 16:15).
“We need to follow God’s plan for life more carefully. We
must do our best in the big things and little things in life that
God has given us to do. We must give ourselves fully to
God. We must look for proof of God’s favor and for proof of
His blessings. These important rules will guide us safely in
the job we choose to do in this life.”—Education, page 267,
adapted.

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS:

1 As Christians, how do we decide what “success” in life is?

What do non-Christians say that “success” is? Look at John
the Baptist. He died in a prison. He was sent there by Herod.
“We must look for proof Do you believe his life was a success? What reasons can you
of God’s favor and give for your answer?
for proof of His blessings.”

2 Many people have success in life. But they don’t follow Bible
rules for making money or managing money. How do we explain
their success? Or what about people who try to follow Bible rules,
but then something terrible happens to them? Maybe they get
sick. Or a disaster happens in their personal lives. How do we
explain these things?

66 WORKING FOR SUCCESS

 Story
THE CAT AND THE BIBLE BOOKSELLER INSIDE

W
hen Simo was a young man, he sold Bible books in
Finland. Simo was selling books in the middle of win- by Andrew McChesney
ter near Turku. Turku is one of Finland’s oldest cities.
Simo stopped at a nice house near the city. Two sisters lived
in the house. They did not have husbands. Simo showed the
sisters his books.
Right away, the sisters agreed to buy every book Simo had.
After this surprising announcement, the sisters left Simo stand-
ing in the living room. Simo waited for them to come back.
Finally, one of the sisters came back downstairs. She held a
big cat in her arms. The woman said to Simo, “Sir, aren’t you
going to do anything to help our cat?”
Simo was more surprised. “What should I do?” he asked.
“Aren’t you the pet doctor that we just talked to on the phone?”
she asked.
“No,” said Simo, “I’m the Bible bookseller.
For years after that, the sisters told their friends about how
they thought Simo was the animal doctor. The sisters thought
they had to buy all the “doctor’s” books first before he would
heal their cat! The sisters laughed so hard when they told their
friends that story. The sisters kept their promise to Simo. They
bought all his books, even after they learned he wasn’t a vet!
Another time, Simo went to the forest to eat lunch and pray.
It was Friday afternoon. Simo prayed, “Before this week ends,
Jesus, please give me a chance to tell somebody that You are
so wonderful.” “Sir, aren’t you going
to do anything to help
Simo finished his lunch. The he went to a farmhouse and
our cat?”
knocked on the door. A woman opened the door.
Simo held out a copy of Ellen G. White’s The Great
Controversy to the woman.
The woman said, “I’m not interested in the book at all. But
I want to know what Jesus means to you.”
Simo told the woman about his love for Jesus. Then the
woman invited Simo to come inside and pray with her.
At that moment, the woman’s adult daughter came to the
door. The woman said to her daughter, “Join us.”
The three of them prayed together. Simo got up to leave.
The woman followed him to the door. She said, “I want to
buy that book you showed me.”
Later, a pastor started some Bible meetings in the area.
Simo introduced the pastor to the woman and her family.
The pastor went to the farmhouse and gave the family Bible
studies. The family joined the Seventh-day Adventist Church.
Today, the woman’s granddaughter is a church leader in the
city of Helsinki. Helsinki is the capital city of Finland.
Provided by the General Conference Office of Adventist Mission, which uses Sabbath School 67
mission offerings to spread the gospel worldwide. Read new stories daily at AdventistMission.org.