Thursday, September 22, 2016
Don’t copy
the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new
person by changing the way you think. Then
you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and
perfect. Romans 12:2(NLT)
James Cash Penney, Jr. was a young
man, working for a small group of stores (The Golden Rule chain) in the Midwest
in 1898. His father, a Baptist preacher
and farmer trained him from an early age to work hard, be honest and
generous. This ethic got noticed by the
owners of the store chain and they invited him to open another store as a
partner.
The store was a success and within a
few years there were two more. And when
the other partners dissolved their relationship in 1907, Penney bought the full
interest in all three stores. By 1912
there were 34 stores; by the time of the great stock market crash of 1929, the
chain of JC Penney stores numbered 1,400 nationwide.
The young man had become incredibly
wealthy, but the crash and ensuing depression nearly destroyed the
businesses. For much of the Great
Depression, J.C. Penney used what was left of his great fortune to meet the payroll
of all the stores so his employees would not go hungry.
The financial setbacks took a toll on
his health. Penney checked himself into the Battle Creek Sanitarium, where he
was treated. After hearing the hymn "God
Will Take Care of You" (written by Civilla Durfee Martin) being
sung at a service in the hospital’s chapel, Penney became a born-again
Christian.[2][ii]
Penney’s well-known work ethic and
honesty were qualities of a well-formed character, but the great secret behind
the success of this business legend was wisdom.
That wisdom is somewhat summed-up in one of his illustrative statements:
You take a hoboe who steals a ride on the railroad; clean him
up, educate him; you’ve solved a problem.
He won’t steal a ride anymore, he’ll steal the railroad.
James Cash Penney understood human
nature, and much wiser, he understood how human nature needs to be transformed
to respond to the nature of God, for whom we are created.
Otherwise all the education,
programs, and social engineering a government might try will simply result in
stolen railroads all over the place.
For You Today
A good question to entertain today is:
how am I involved with the character
development of young people I know?
Go to VIDEO
NOTES
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