God wants us to start and end our journey here on earth as faithful servants. And the greatest achievement of any man on earth is to hear these words from the Lord, “well-done, thou good and faithful servant”.
“Who can find a faithful man?” (Proverbs 20:6)
Faithfulness and Productivity
If you look at Matthew 25: 14-23, you will observe that Jesus was directing our attention to a vital truth; you cannot be faithful without being productive. The master of the house called the man who turned five talents to ten talents a faithful man. That is productivity. No where will you find any faithful man who was not productive. God wants us to start and end our journey here on earth as faithful servants, and aside from the other crucial measures of faithfulness such as truth, honesty, consistency and loyalty, productivity or multiplication is another crucial aspect that God wants us to attend to. God rarely gives people final products. What he gives are gifts, ideas, resources, opportunities, grace, and anointing. If you understand the meaning of faithfulness very well, you will know that you must take those raw materials and fight your way to multiplying them. All through the scriptures, there is no giant of faith, or anyone who was approved by God because God gave them final products, they all got raw materials from God, and it was their responsibility to take those raw materials and work faithfully with them to produce destinies from it:
- Moses was given a rod and a set of instructions. Exodus 3. Moses worked hard and very faithfully with that rod and God’s instructions to become one of the greatest prophets of God. He ended up writing the first five books of the Bible. Had Moses failed to work faithfully with that rod and God’s instructions, his story would never be told today;
- Joseph was given a gift to interpret dreams, and he was faithful with that gift till it landed him in the palace;
- Daniel was given a gift of divine wisdom, and he used that gift very faithfully till it landed him in the palace;
- David was given a gift of music and leadership, he used that gift so faithfully in the wilderness and in Saul’s palace will it turned him to a king;
- It was the same with Jacob in Laban’s house; Isaac in his well construction business; Paul, Peter and even our Lord Jesus. Had Jesus changed his mind from dying on the cross, he would never have been used by God to save the world from sin, although he would still remain Jesus the son of God — but God would probably have had to find an alternative.
Let’s look at some challenges responsible for unproductivity among Christians that sometimes, you don’t see among unbelievers:
- The lack of adequate teaching around the subject of productivity as a measure of faithfulness. Many of us are not taught that it is God’s will for us to multiply;
- Wrong theologies that smallness is godly, largeness is sinful (if that is true, Paul who wrote more than two-thirds of the New Testament is a sinner; Abraham who was rich in silver and gold was disapproved by God; Solomon was disapproved; David was disapproved;
- Bad role models, in terms of believers or pastors who have grown big but are now derailing (this makes others to see expansion and growth as a trap);
- The culture of dependency and entitlement. Some people are supposed to be big, so they can take care of some other people
- Bad environments. Some want to be productive but are living in environments that are killing their destinies.
God wants us to start and end our journey here on earth as faithful servants. And the greatest achievement of any man on earth is to hear these words from the Lord, “well-done, thou good and faithful servant”.
Ayo Akerele, a leadership and system development strategist, and minister of the word, writes from Canada and can be reached through [email protected].
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