START THE YEAR ON THE RIGHT FOOT Pt.11
Proverbs14:23 All hard work brings a profit, but mere talk leads only to poverty.
SHUN LAZINESS
Two friends went to a fortuneteller to check their fortunes. The first was told that he was destined to be poor in life. The second friend was told that he was destined to be wealthy. He was told that his wealth would supersede that of the king. Both of them left the diviner with different moods. The first was sad while the second was joyful. When the first man got home, he became sad and looked forlorn. He made a decision to relocate to another village where he would farm on a large expanse of land. He bought new farming tools and he resolved to change his fortune through hardwork. The second friend stopped working. He married more wives and threw parties to celebrate his fortune.
After several years, there was great famine in the village where these two friends hailed. Even the king was affected. Surprisingly, the man that was told would be wealthy had become poor and sickly. His wives left him and he was all alone. Most people heard about abundance of supply in another village. They decided to go there to buy foodstuffs. This sick friend also took a trip to the next village to buy food. On getting there, he saw a big farm owned by one man with many workers selling raw food. From afar, he sighted someone that looked like his old friend issuing orders with people obeying his orders but he was confused because he knew what the fortuneteller said. When he moved closer, he saw clearly and he discovered that his friend had become prosperous in his farming business. The same farming he abandoned for purposeless living made his friend wealthy. The bible says there's dignity in labour.
This year, don't joke with work. Stop living in the utopia of what someone predicted about you having a good life. None of such prophecies will happen without hard work. Work doesn't kill rather it refines us. God created man to work even before the fall. God gave Adam work to do before he fell. Some think we work because of the fall. No it is not true. There are many idle people waiting for big job opportunities while some feel there are certain jobs that do not befit their status. The reason many graduates are jobless in our country is because most of them want to work in an air conditioned office. Some despise certain jobs because they see it as demeaning. The language of money is value. If you add value to others by deploying your skills and offering services, money is what you'll get in return. If unbelievers do this and do it well, they will make money. It has nothing to do with spirituality, this is just a natural law set in motion by God. Making money has nothing to do with your course of study or the prestige attached to the type of job you do. It is all about the value you add. Don't call any work "small". Great profit lies in doing "small" jobs well.
Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with all your might, for in the realm of the dead, where you are going, there is neither working nor planning nor knowledge nor wisdom, Eccl9:10.