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Dignity of labour: A Key to success – Part 2

By Chidi Okoroafor
14 July 2019   |   3:50 am
God created us to work. God did not design us to be idle. After the creation of man, God put man in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it (Genesis 2:15).

Chidi Okoroafor

Text: Proverbs 26:11-16; 1 Corinthians 3:8-9
Key Verse: John 5:7, “But Jesus answered them, My Father worketh hitherto, and I work.” (KJV)

God created us to work. God did not design us to be idle. After the creation of man, God put man in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it (Genesis 2:15). God brought the livestock, the birds and the animals to Adam to see what he would name them; and whatever the man called each living creature, that was its name.

We can only exercise dominion as commanded by God in Genesis 1:28 through work. One of the characteristics of exercising dominion is being fruitful and you can only be fruitful when you engage yourself to work. When you work, you will become productive. Work is the secret of productive life.

Refuse to be idle because idleness leads to poverty. Paul addressing the Thessalonians brethren told them to imitate him because he never lived in idleness among them. He did not eat anyone’s food without paying for it. Instead, with toil and labour he worked night and day in order not to be a burden to any of them (2 Thessalonians 3:4-8). Ecclesiastes 10:18 says that laziness leads to a sagging roof; idleness leads to a leaky house.

Grace was not given to make you lazy but to empower you to work smarter and to become more resourceful. Grace makes work sweet and gives your work speed. Paul said the grace that was bestowed upon him was not in vain but that he worked harder than all of them (1 Corinthians 15:10).

It is one thing to go to your work place but another to work while in your work place. Today, people go to work but they don’t work. Promotion in a work place is for people who work and add value to their organisations. It is not just working but working smart and diligently so that your work will not be found lacking in quality. If your work is lacking in quality, it cannot be counted (Ecclesiastes 1:15). Your work should produce results.

Living without working is dying without knowing. It is not enough to confess prosperity, you should go to work. The rule is he that does not work, should not eat (2 Thessalonians 3:10). Proverbs 20:13 Love not sleep, lest you come to poverty; open your eyes, and you will have plenty of bread.
The Effects of not Working

• No work, no motion: The ladder between you and success is work. Any excuse you give for not working is a trap to slow you down in the journey of life. Proverbs 14:23, in all toil there is profit, but idle talk tends only to poverty.

• No work, no food: He that does not work will not have food to eat. The Bible says you shall enjoy the fruits of your labour (Isaiah 3:10). Proverbs 28:19, whoever works his land will have plenty of bread, but he who follows worthless pursuits will have plenty of poverty.

• No work, no wealth: Proverbs 10:4, Lazy hands make for poverty, but diligent hands bring wealth. Proverbs 14:23, work brings profit, but idleness leads to poverty!
To Stay Working, do this

• Get excited about your work: As they were rebuilding the walls of Jerusalem, the people worked with enthusiasm (Nehemiah 4:6).

• Be Serious about your Work: The hand of the diligent will rule, But the slack hand will be put to forced labor (Proverbs 12:24).

• Update on your work: Seek to learn more about your work and improve in your knowledge about your work continually. Job 36:3a, “I will fetch my knowledge from afar.”
Today’s Nugget: No work, no wealth
Prayer: I receive Grace to work harder and profit.
Prayer lines: 09078154261.
E-mail: aggospelbell@gmail.com
Dr. Chidi Okoroafor, General Superintendent, Assemblies of God Nigeria

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