In all labor there is profit, but idle talk leads only to poverty. – Proverbs 14:23, Amplified Bible (AMP)

He has made money collecting trash. He has made money renting videos. He has made money selling cars, booking hotel rooms, and owning professional sports teams. How has Wayne Huizenga become the only person in history to build three Fortune 1000 companies practically from scratch – Waste Management, Blockbuster Entertainment and AutoNation – and the only person to have developed six NYSE-listed companies? The answer is hard work.

As About.com reports:

Huizenga was legendary for his hard work. When first starting out, he would drive the truck from 2:30am until noon then spend the rest of the day knocking on doors and introducing himself to drum up new business. The company grew to 40 trucks locally, then merged with another business in Chicago to form Waste Management Inc. WMI soon went public and used its newfound buying power to acquire nearly 150 local and regional garbage services, making it the largest waste disposal company in the U.S.

Huizenga took his Waste Management work ethic into other business realms, and the end result has been a constant run of business success that has made Huizenga a billionaire.

Hard work is no guarantee of monetary success, but it is – outside of winning the lottery – an essential building block of it. What Psalm 14:23 teaches us is that it doesn’t matter what the work is that you do. It matters how you do your work. If you do your work with all of your might (see Ecclesiastes 9:10 and Colossians 3:23), you will absolutely please your Lord with your valiant effort. But, in addition, your diligence effort will benefit many, many people, and in return for the benefits you provide, other people will give you their money.

Don’t let anyone force you into thinking that you have to be a doctor, a lawyer, or some other type of professional to build wealth. I know doctors that are swimming in debt, lawyers that have gone out of business, and other types of professionals that have gone bankrupt. God made you to do a certain type of work, and if Wayne Huizenga could build wealth collecting garbage, you can provide comfortably for your family by diligently pursuing the work God has instructed you to pursue.

Just remember, any wealth that God grants you in return for your hard work isn’t yours. It is His (see 1 Chronicles 29:12, Deuteronomy 8:18). Be sure you spend every dime in a way that honors and pleases Him.