“At thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore” (Ps. 16: 11)
Growing Dominion, Part 121
“Bread of deceit is sweet to a man; but afterwards his mouth shall be filled with gravel” (Prov. 20:17).
Sin likes to think short term. This is because short term thinking is attractive, with instantaneous rewards, no real reason (that is immediately obvious) for not doing whatever it is—but all this is a very sinful way to think. God requires all men (and this includes businessmen) to think at least three moves ahead in the chess game.
This is because this fallen world runs in such a way that the easy and natural way is probably an instance of cutting corners, and there is a real pay-off right away for cutting those corners. Deceitfulness in business pays . . . short term. Deceitfulness in business destroys . . . long term. Lying is a sugar cube under the tongue right now. But later, lying is a mouth full of gravel from the driveway.