| The experience of some employers with some believers of our day is similar to the experience of Jesus and the fruitless fig tree described in Matthew 21:19 (CEV) – “…and along the way He saw a fig tree. But when He came to it, He found only leaves and no figs. So He told the tree, “You will never again grow any fruit!” Right then the fig tree dried up.”
We see some believers today with captivating ‘leaves’. They look responsible and attractive from afar. They have fair speeches that can swing any recruitment panel decision in their favour. Take a closer look – after they are employed but you don’t find the fruit of skilfulness, diligence and uprightness. They are not productive and fruitful because they are not skilful. Skilfulness has to do with being excellent at what you do; being an expert because of your distinguishing knowledge and experience. Are you regarded as an expert in your field? Do you consistently strive to improve your knowledge and experience? I find it incredible when some brethren tell me they are desirous of changing their jobs, and when I request their resume, they go through their mail and forward a copy they sent to some other person a year or two ago. I begin to wonder if it means that this person has not acquired any new knowledge or experience in the last year or two! I think a skilful person would consider their resume stale after every 12 months.
The bible says “the righteous is more excellent than his neighbour” (Proverbs 12:26 KJV). The believer has an excellent spirit by nature and therefore we should see the coterminous effect in everything he does. Excellence should be our lifestyle. Skilfulness should make us more productive in our workplace. But what do we see today? You give an unbeliever a target – “I need that report by 2pm tomorrow”. He says “YES SIR!” and before 2pm the next day, the report is ready. You give a believer the same target and his response is – “I will try my best by the grace of God”. Sadly, by 2pm the next day, he hasn’t even gone halfway. Won’t the employer begin to wonder: if he was working by the grace of God and giving his best, why didn’t he get the result in record time? Will the employer not be scared of people who tag their speeches with “by the grace of God”?
No man truly walks with God and remains unproductive. Even in the Old Testament, we see that the men who walked with God were more productive than their peers. We see a man like Daniel delivering exceptional results despite the adverse conditions around him, how much more the believer that has the exact ability of God in him. You who have 24/7 access to the wisdom of God in a mystery that is hidden from even the princes of this world (I Cor. 2:7-10), how then is it a struggle to excel in the vocation relating to this lesser world? Apostle Paul said in Philippians 4:13 (AMP) – I have strength for all things in Christ who empowers me [I am ready for anything and equal to anything through Him who infuses inner strength into me; I am self-sufficient in Christ’s sufficiency].
The believer should never be found deflating his efficiency with any form of deficiency because he is self-sufficient in Christ’s sufficiency. It is wrong for the believer to continue to rate himself on the basis of his physical abilities alone, because he is a brand new person in Christ. You should be more conscious of your spiritual ability and this will definitely affect your productivity. The advantage for you is that your employer would generally give you tasks and rate you based on his perception of your physical ability. But if you work based on your spiritual ability there is no way you won’t constantly exceed the legitimate expectations of your employer.
While our major goal in life is not to excel at work but to fulfil our purpose, being skilful and fruitful at work is something that should flow naturally from us because we belong to the lineage where whatsoever thing we do, we do it excellently. I trust that you will determine to always display the fruit of integrity and productivity at all times and in all places even as I leave you with the words of Ralph Brownrig – “trees have their seasons at certain times of the year when they bring forth fruit; but a Christian is for all seasons.”
– Tope Aladenusi
(This piece is an excerpt of the article – “Why some employers don’t want to employ Christians” in Today’s Lifeline Magazine Vol.3No.1) |
The reason you are not in Heaven after believing Jesus Christ is to carry out a work. This work otherwise called the ministry is to let every man understand what it is God has done in Christ Jesus.
It may come in various forms, through separate means but the aim is to get another person to partake of this glorious grace that we have been called into. The only means however is by preaching the Gospel to them. It has pleased God through the foolishness of preaching to save those that would believe.
How would they believe friends if they don’t hear? How would they hear if no one goes to tell them? All of us big, small, known, unknown, clergy, laity has been given this responsibility. This is work for the congregation and for the pastors, for leaders and for followers. No one is left out.
The aim here friends is not primarily to make a man a member of your church. While this may serve as a means to him hearing the truth of the lord and saviour Jesus Christ, the issue more importantly is for him to hear the message of salvation. This is of paramount importance. So much the more that barely after being told of who we have been made in Jesus we are immediately informed of this new responsibility.
Don’t wait for a congregation. Don’t wait for a pulpit. Tell that person beside you. Tell him about the glorious work of Jesus.
– Dr bolaji akanni
I am borne of a Dad who believes in work 24-7. When I was growing up he would wake us up before dawn……even when no work was being done in the farm. He just wanted us to start doing something as early as five in the morning. I am not a proponent of working on and on and as such my life would be really unpleasant when the clock hit five in the morning. My brother copied him in this and he would make us work in the farm from six in the morning to six in the evening, the only break being a thirty-minute spell of swallowing food (not eating) nicknamed ‘lunch break’. It reached a point where our brother would allot the farm area to be worked on to each one of us, albeit some of us being younger and energetically challenged. At the end of my first day, my hands had developed blisters and my shoulders were stinging with aches. From the second day onwards, my palms developed hard gravel-textured protrusions such that whenever I shook other people’s hands, they would exclaim….oh your hands are so rough! My shoulders and back developed incessant pains. In the evening, we would apply pain balm on our bodies. It seemed like slavery. Absolutely! It was like the case of the Israelites at the hands of the odious Egyptians. My father managed to push some values into our lives…..though via hairsplitting methods. I thank him anyhow.
Then, my pastor came up with a sermon about those who do not work. Based on the scriptures, these should not eat at all. That affirmed my belief that life was about three things: Work, Work and Work. What my pastor didn’t say is that hard work does not mean roving throughout, like the earth which rotates nonstop.
But as time went on, I reached a point in life when my body stopped functioning like a thermometer, measuring the intensity of the fatigue, and instead started working like a thermostat, as a regulatory device that would make sure the body goes off whenever exhausted. I would experience serious thundering pulses on my head. That was when I was in my third year in campus and exams littered my life. I hopped from campus exams to professional exams ad infinitum. The results? Engine-knocks as it were. Serious headaches faced me. I went to the campus clinic and the doctor told me that I had symptoms of a person who had continuously engaged his mind without a rest. I have always labeled doctors as pure guessers, especially those with limited experience and professional qualifications like him. But this time around, I admittedly nodded….. “That’s right; I have been reading without a rest for the last eighteen months (on the lower side)”.
‘All work without play makes Jack a dull boy’ is not just ancient English saying. In deed it has become as practical as never before, as witnessed by inventions such as retreats, fun days, crazy Olympics, holidaying and indoor working that have marked the 21st century. Mankind has realized that there needs a balance between work and life.
The question of how to spend time wisely is an age-old riddle which can only be solved by applying the scriptures. Ecclesiastes 3:1-8 sums up everything……there is time for everything. And Genesis 2:2 reads: And on the seventh day God ended his work which he had made; and he rested on the seventh day from all his work which he had made.Are you wondering how you would strike a balance between work and life? Is the seesaw in your life tilting in one direction, threatening to throw you off-balance? Is your life clogged by a nerve-racking job? Or is your boss angry with you for your hands-off attitude to your work? The answers to both these diametric questions are hidden in the many pages of the Holy Book, the Bible. We will present some of them to you here. Stay with us.
– johnstone katuku
