From the moment a person gives his/her life to Christ, a new story begins for that person. No longer a sinner, now a saint, no longer in darkness, now in light, no longer bad, now good, no longer destined for destruction, now saved.
However, before I proceed I will like to point out an important thing. Note that the life of a person before Christ may not necessarily have been filled with suffering and woes. Physically, all things may seem to be going well—the person may be fit and healthy, making good money, enjoying the good things of life. But in the end, all those things don’t matter. The life of such a person can be compared to a person who is dressed in expensive clothes but has bad body odour and so, no matter how good the person’s outer garments are, they can not take away the body odour, the offending body odour still remains.
The primary motive therefore for accepting Christ is not to acquire wealth and possessions on earth or to get healed from a recurring ailment or acquire other physical things. The primary motive should be spiritual. Beyond even having eternal life, it was God's original intendment for man that we be in constant fellowship with Him forever. God’s desire is for all men to live a life so attuned to His Will that the only goal will be to please Him. And so salvation is not a call to earthly riches or a problem-free life on earth. It is a call to God's original intendment for mankind.
That being said, the Bible says seek ye first the kingdom of God and His righteousness and every other thing shall be added to you (Matthew 6:33). Therefore, after the primary goal is achieved, all other secondary things can now follow. They will be among the many benefits of being attuned to God.
And so while you don’t give your life to Christ because you want to be wealthy, it doesn’t mean that you can’t be a wealthy Christian because obviously all power belongs to God, one of which is the power to make wealth. Deuteronomy 8:18 KJV says, “But thou shalt remember the LORD thy God; for it is He that giveth thee power to get wealth, that He may establish His covenant which He sware unto thy fathers, as it is this day.” Therefore, the first and most important thing is to ensure that you are in God.
Being in God does not refer to an abstract concept or engaging in seemingly spiritual routines. It refers to practically and intentionally involving God in every aspect of your life. Applying His Word to your life, continuously asking for His guidance and following it, applying His principles in all your dealings. It is based on this solid foundation that all other things can be added. Consider the example of a house that is to be built, it must first of all start with a good foundation.
Having established that your foundation is sound in the Lord, you may proceed with your chosen endeavour bearing in mind that it is the work of your hands that will be blessed. Your faith in God should not be an excuse for laziness. No matter how righteous you are, if you are lazy nothing will work for you. Proverbs 19:15 KJV says, “Slothfulness casteth into a deep sleep; and an idle soul shall suffer hunger.” You will therefore need to work for even if a lazy person is given money, chances are high that the money will be quickly squandered because such a person simply lacks the ability to sustain or multiply the money.
Having taken the decision to work, it must next be combined with smartness and diligence. Smartness will enable you to constantly identify needs and it will help you effectively formulate solutions to meet them. It may start with short term needs and gradually graduate to long term needs which will guarantee that your services will always be sought for. Diligence will ensure that you remain consistent. Consistency here doesn’t necessarily mean you will always be a 100 percent, after all we are all humans and may not always be at our peak. Consistency means that even when you fall back, you still motivate and push yourself back to a 100 percent.
On your way to the top, don’t forget to keep improving yourself—learn new things, learn new ways to do old things, acquire skills, learn from books, learn from people, learn from situations, learn from successes and learn from mistakes. These will keep you always informed on how to grow and get higher.
At this juncture I will like to highlight this. In as much as there is good in searching for more knowledge in order to grow, there is need for discernment. Care needs to be taken so that firstly, you will not forget your foundation (God), and secondly, you will not get mixed up in contrary principles. Remember that your yardstick should at all times be pleasing God. There are certain principles that may seem to work but go against God's word, applying them will be tantamount to getting mixed up. The danger in this is that after applying the first one and it works, it wouldn’t be long that you find yourself applying a second and a third and then you would have forgotten your roots. The fact that certain things work doesn’t mean you have to apply them. Constantly remind yourself that many go to extreme lengths to acquire wealth, at this point everything becomes acceptable to them provided it brings wealth. You will therefore need to constantly check yourself to make sure that you are still in alignment. Do you still pray constantly? Do you still give? Do you still hear that still small voice? Do you still obey? How quick are you to even obey? Does your will now struggle with God's? Do you now cut corners to bring in more income?
Lastly, you will need to be patient. Patience doesn’t automatically translate that you will have to wait for so many years before you become wealthy. It may be 1 year or 5 years, that shouldn’t bother you. When impatience sets in, it makes it very easy for you to be tempted to experiment with unsavoury options. Wait upon the Lord having the confidence that your expectations shall not be cut off. And they won’t!
No comments:
Post a Comment