CHRISTIANS’ RESPONSIBILITIES

Responsibility as a word or concept is a little bit difficult to define. Synonyms for the word, “Responsible” are “Answerable” and “Accountable.”

Responsibility is the coinage of two words, “Response” and “Ability.” We can understand this concept better when we ask ourselves individually, “What is my Response-Ability?” In other words, “How long does it take for me to respond to expectations?”

Responsibility is being responsible. No one can be “responsible” without “responsibility.”

Responsibility is doing what you are expected to do and taking blame when you do not. Someone once remarked that, “Ability plus Opportunity equals Responsibility and Accountability” (cf. Galatians 6:9-10).

§  Sins are classified into two main categories: Sins of Omission and Sins of Commission. Sin of Commission is a direct violation of a given commandment of God (I John 3:4) while Sin of Omission is failure to do what you are expected to do (James 4:17).

§  Succinctly stated, “Responsibility is doing what you are expected of without necessarily being commanded.”  In other words, if you wait to be told to do something, you are no longer “responsible.”

Responsibility is a privilege. At Luke 17:10, Jesus said, “So you too, when you do all the things which are commanded you, say, ‘We are unworthy slaves; we have done only that which we ought to have done.’”          

1. A Christian’s first responsibility is to him/herself (Acts 2:40).

§  Before he preaches to another, he must first preach to himself (Romans 2:21f).

§  Before he saves another he has to first save himself. Save myself from myself or destroy myself by myself (II Chronicles 26:16).

§  Before he encourages another, he has to first encourage himself (I Samuel 30:6; II Corinthians 1:3-5).

§  Before he guides another he must first guide himself.

No one can give what he does not have. The value a Christian places in himself is the value he/she will transmit to another (Matthew 22:36-39).

A number of Scripture passages point to the fact than individual Christians’ activities are the pivot upon which the whole gamut of Christianity rest:   

1.     He must take out the beam in his own eye before he would have the authority to remove the speck in another’s eye (Matthew 7:3-5).

2.     He must first be strong before he can restore the weak (Galatians 6:1-2).

3.     He must always evaluate his work in context of others (Galatians 6:3-5).

4.     An individual Christian must live an unsupervised life (Philippians 2:12) by making his/her calling and election sure (II Peter 1:10).

2. His Responsibility is to the Brotherhood (I Peter 2:17)

The Brotherhood refers to the Body of Christ all over the world. The Body of Christ begins with the local congregation. You must not do anything to bring disrepute to your local congregation (II Corinthians 6:3).

Sometimes we do not realize that what we do and how we live impact negatively on the Brotherhood (Romans 2:24; I Corinthians 8:9-13; I Corinthians 9:12). King David was guilty of not protecting the corporate image of Israel, a symbol of the Brotherhood and it came with its own consequences (II Samuel 12:14).

Whatever you do must be to positively impact your local congregation and the Brotherhood at large.

As a rule, in my family we do not speak ill of the Church, any brother, sister or minister of the Gospel. Everything we say about the Church, local or global must be positive.   

3. A Christian’s Responsibility Is To Defend The Faith (Jude 3)

a.     Two things make one a Christian: the doctrine you subscribe to and the life you live (I Timothy 4:16).

b.     What makes the difference between one Christian religious organization and another is the doctrine preached and subscribed to.

c.      While writing to early Christians, Apostle Jude enjoined them to “Contend earnestly for the Faith once delivered unto Saints” (Jude 3).

d.     Why is “Doctrine” so important to God? It is so because it is the body of beliefs handed down from Him to His Worshippers, which must continually be handed down to successive generations of those who worship Him (II Timothy 2:2).

e.      The doctrine one subscribes to determines to a large extent whether he/she is worshipping rightly or wrongly (Exodus 8:27. There are:  

a.     Doctrines of men (Matthew 15:8-9).

b.     Doctrines of demons (I Timothy 4:1-3), and

c.      Doctrines of Christ (II John 9-11).

        What you subscribe to is who you worship.

f.       Why should we defend the Faith? Any compromise of the vital elements of the Faith leads to its adulteration. This is what Apostle Paul warned against at II Corinthians 11:2-4. The reference to “Eve” and what happened at Garden of Eden is instructive. What led to Adam and Eve’s disobedience was the adulteration of God’s original instruction by the devil. While God, “Thou Shall Surely Die,” Satan said, “Thou Shall Not Surely Die.” All that it took for Adam and Eve to lose the beautiful Paradise of Eden was their acceptance of that adulterated message.

g.     Today, many are peddling erroneous messages about God, Jesus, Holy Spirit, Bible, The Church, etcetera. These are clever people who chose what to preach and leave out others. T. M. Clement (Grace and Truth Inc., June, 1991, page 16) was right when he remarked:

“Those who set a truth apart have Truth in part and from the Truth depart.”

One of the greatest enemies of modern Christianity is the bastardization of the Truth.

h.     Early Christians defended the Faith (Galatians 2:4-5).       

4. A Christian’s Responsibility is to Share the Gospel (Romans

    1:14-16).

a.     Sharing the Gospel should not be a rocket science. It thrives on the principle of hungry people telling other hungry people where to find food (II Kings 7:3-10).

b.     It thrives on the principle of “Each one reach one.”

c.      It thrives on the principle of “Saved to save.”

d.     Many people get discouraged because they do not “Know how to Preach.” If you think that this is your situation, then I encourage you to adopt “Operation Andrew and Philip” (John 1: 40 – 46).

e.      Preaching the Gospel is like a traveler who sees the danger ahead of other travelers and warning them against such dangers. By that he/she saves those who believe from destruction.

f.       “He who wins soul is wise” (Proverbs 11:30).

CONCLUSION

As Christians, we have numerous responsibilities, which we cannot exhaust in one-hour discourse.    

When we are alive to our responsibilities we become alive to the Will of God. Do not wait to be told to do what you should ordinarily know you should.

God bless us all in Jesus’ Name!

CHRISTIAN YOUTH AND CAREER DEVELOPMENT

I am sure that before now many of us have made up our minds on who and what we want to be in life – Doctors, Lawyers, Engineers, Businessmen and Women; Preachers, Teachers, Farmers, Artisans, etcetera. Amongst us are people who want to become civil or public servants and self-employed (entrepreneurs). Whatever happens, we have our choices.    

It is interesting to know that many of us do not know what they want to do in life. One thing I must advise is – do not allow anyone to choose a career for you. You should be the one to make the choice because it is your life. At best, you can seek a professional counsel from people you respect.  

WHAT IS CAREER?

By simple definition, Career is Occupation or Profession. Sometimes we confuse Job with Career. There is tiny difference between the two. Wikipedia says that while:

“Job is something you do simply to earn money, a Career is a series of connected employment opportunities. A Job has minimal impact on your future work life, while a Career provides experience and learning to fuel your future. A job offers few networking opportunities, but a career is loaded with them.

The question I ask you today is, “What would want your life to be? Are you an 8:00AM – 5:00PM person or are like a wind – someone who would not want to be tracked down? Would you want to live a confined life (living a cyclical life of moving from house to office) or you want to be your own compass?  

CAREER PATHS AND BIBLICAL CHARACTERS

Two families that we read of in the Bible presents to us interesting expose on career. The first family is the family of Adam and Eve whose sons, Cain and Abel chose different career paths: while Cain was a crop farmer, Abel was a livestock farmer (Genesis 4:1-5).

Another family was that of Isaac and Rebecca. Their twin boys, Esau and Jacob had different career paths. At Genesis 25: 27 tells us that as:

The boys grew up, and Esau became a skillful hunter, a man of the open country, while Jacob was content to stay at home among the tents.    

It would be a challenging situation for a “Person of the open country” (an outgoing and adventurous character to be confined to the life of a person who “Stays at home among the tents” (an inventive and innovative character) and vice-versa. This is akin to saying that an employment-oriented person should live the life of an entrepreneur or for an entrepreneur to be confined to the lifestyle of an employment-oriented person. This is why most people in life are not satisfied with their jobs or careers. It is important that you know who you are and what you are best suited for.

SALARY OR INCOME: SUBSISTENCE LIFE OR WEALTH - WHICH?   

What kind of life do you want to live? Are you satisfied with monthly pay cheque or do you want to be the person to determine your own pay cheque (income)? Think of the limitations of salary and opportunities inherent in self-employment.

When you walk down your street or major roads, do take cognizance of imposing edifices and glimmering automobiles that are driven past by you and ask yourself, “Who own these - Salary earners or Income earners?”

Even though, I do not denigrate salary neither do I venerate income, I want to say that salary is not the only approach to life and survival. Anyone who lives by banking on salary may die without earning any. We need to reconfigure our minds from earning salary to developing skills. Developing our individual capacities and becoming self-employed is the way to go not only in modern day Nigeria, but globally as well.

God has endowed each of us with certain potentials, which are yearning to be harnessed. To harness these is not a tea-party affair. It takes determination, focus and hard work to achieve this, but the rewards are worth their weights in gold.

You cannot become wealthy by serving others. I encourage us to see what God has deposited inside us to become what He has created us to be. One way to do this is to make the needed sacrifice:

1.  See into the future and make the needed present sacrifices (Genesis 49:14-15). 

2.  Leave the Big League to play in the local league (What you are looking for in Sokoto are already in your Shokoto). For sure, there is a future is shoe cobbling. Everyone wants to start and hit it “Big.” Ask yourself, “How did Gucci, Dolce and Gabana, etcetera start?”        

POLITICS AND GET-RICH QUICK SYNDROME ARE NOT CAREERS

Technically speaking, Politics is not a career. Politics is struggle for power. Therefore, do not make politics your career.

Get-Rich Syndromes such as engaging in Yahoo! Or YahooPlus! Kidnapping and the like are not careers. These are activities stewed in illegalities and criminalities. There is no way that you cannot build a sustainable future on faulty foundations. I like to share with us few Scripture passages that should discourage us from engaging in illegalities and criminalities:

Proverbs 20:17: “Bread obtained by falsehood is sweet to a man, but afterward his

                                mouth will be filled with gravel.”

Proverbs 13:11: “Wealth obtained by fraud dwindles, but the one who gathers by

                             labor increases it.” Wealth obtained through fraudulent means

                             will suffer Economic law of “Diminishing returns.”

Zechariah 5:1-5: When you bring into your home anything obtained through

                                thievery and lies, you are bringing curses upon your family.

                               Zechariah 5:1-5 says:

Then I lifted up my eyes again and looked, and behold, there was a flying scroll.  And he said to me, “What do you see?” And I answered, “I see a flying scroll; its length is twenty cubits and its width ten cubits.” Then he said to me, “This is the curse that is going forth over the face of the whole and; surely everyone who steals will be purged away according to the writing on one side, and everyone who swears will be purged away according to the writing on the other side. ⁴ I will make it go forth,” declares the Lord of hosts, “and it will enter the house of the thief and the house of the one who swears falsely by My name; and it will spend the night within that house and consume it with its timber and stones.”     

Luke 16:10-12:   The way you handle what belongs to others are what determines

                               your levels of blessings and Divine settlement:

“He who is faithful in a very little thing is faithful also in much; and he who is unrighteous in a very little thing is unrighteous also in much.  Therefore if you have not been faithful in the use of unrighteous wealth, who will entrust the true riches to you? And if you have not been faithful in the use of that which is another’s, who will give you that which is your own?

STEPS TO DEVELOPING A CAREER PATH

Define Your Capital?

What is your capital? Your capital is not money, but the value you bring with you – your skills. What can you say you are good at? Your capital is your meal ticket that will open doors of opportunities before anyone, anywhere in the world. Your capital is your capacity.   

You have capacity. Everyone does. The problem is that most people think that they do not have capacities while in reality they do. God does not create a nobody. Anybody He created is created to be somebody. When God created coconut, He imbued it with water.     

Sometimes, the temptation is to doubt certain abilities that we are endowed with. The only way to overcome this is to keep doing what we are doing until we perfect the art. You must learn to have faith in your faith and to doubt your doubts.  Israelmore Ayivor wrote:

“Those who mistrust their own abilities are being too wicked to themselves, discouraging themselves from doing what they should have been excelling in. If you are good at discouraging yourself, you can't be a good leader because leadership is built on inspiring others to face challenges.” 

I encourage you to adopt the resolution that Edward Everett Hale had made. He wrote:

“I am only one, but I am one. I cannot do everything, but I can do something. And because I cannot do everything, I will not refuse to do the something that I can do.” 

In his book, The Light in the Heart, Roy T. Bennett observed:

“Believe in your infinite potential. Your only limitations are those you set upon yourself. Believe in yourself, your abilities and your own potential. Never let self-doubt hold you captive. You are worthy of all that you dream of and hope for.” 

Search Yourself To Know What You Are Good At

The journey into career development begins with self-evaluation. This journey is half completed when you know who you are and what you can accomplish. It becomes challenging when you do not have any idea of what you have been wired with. Speaking to youths on an AIT Programme, TEEN TIME on Saturday, March 17, 2018, Isaac Success counseled:

“Find your place and everything will fall into place. When you do, you will become the master of that place.”  

Volunteer To Work Under A Master of Your Art.

For every Moses there was a Joshua; for every Elijah there was Elisha and for every Paul, there were Timothy and Titus. What did all these people have in common? Mentors and Mentees; Masters and Disciples!

In their book, Start-Up Nation: The Story of Israel’s Economic Miracle, Dan Senor and Saul Singer (2011) say that “Israelis do not go to work to earn, they go to work to learn.” When you are schooled under a Master of your art, you will in turn become the Master of your art. Saul, who became Apostle Paul was schooled by a Master, Gamaliel (Acts 22:3) and he became a master himself (Acts 26:24).   

Employ Your Capital

To employ your capital is to commercialize it. In his book, Secrets of the Millionaire Mind: Mastering the Inner Game of Wealth, T. Harv Eker (2005:10) wrote,

One of my favourite authors, Stuart Wilde, puts it this way, “The key to success is to raise your own energy; when you do, people will naturally be attracted to you. And when they show up, bill ‘em!” 

Advertise Yourself and Launch Out

You are not in the world to be pitied and served. Your voice is your address. If you do not say, “Here am I” nobody will know where you are and what you can do.

The world is a noisy market place which requires that you go to the rooftop of your environment and shout your way to people’s attention and interests.

Advertising yourself and your art are critical to career development.  Do not sit at home waiting for people to come to you. Go where the people are and let them know what you can do. This is the thrust of what we read of at John 7:1-4:

After these things Jesus was walking in Galilee, for He was unwilling to walk in Judea because the Jews were seeking to kill Him.  Now the feast of the Jews, the Feast of Booths, was near.  Therefore His brothers said to Him, “Leave here and go into Judea, so that Your disciples also may see Your works which You are doing. For no one does anything in secret when he himself seeks to be known publicly. If You do these things, show Yourself to the world.”   

CONCLUSION

Do not just go to school, study, graduate and return to wait for non-existing employment. Truth is, there is no work. For this reason, you must take your destiny in your own hands by acquiring a skillset, develop and employ it to work.

Why be an angel when you can become god?

HILARY JOHNSON CHUKWUMA CHUKWURAH

Grand-Heritage Global Communications

Phone: 0803 959 6919. E-mail: hilaryjohnsonc@gmail.com. 

CHRISTIAN YOUTH AND PROCRASTINATION

“A few days later Felix and his wife, Drusilla, who was Jewish, sent for Paul and listened to him talk about a life of believing in Jesus Christ. As Paul continued to insist on right relations with God and his people, about a life of moral discipline and the coming Judgment, Felix felt things getting a little too close for comfort and dismissed him. “That’s enough for today. I’ll call you back when it’s convenient.”- Acts 24:24-26 (The Message, MSG).

“… Earth's history is strewn with the wrecks of half-finished plans and unexecuted resolutions. ‘Tomorrow’ is the excuse of the lazy and refuge of the incompetent.” - Nolbert Quayle (British Ambassador).

“NOW is the ACCEPTABLE TIME….” (II Corinthians 6:2).

I am honoured to be invited to share my thoughts on a very important subject matter that concerns humanity in general and Christian youths in particular.

We thank God for the grace of life and for the privilege of Sonship without which we would not have known one another and may not have had reasons to gather as we are doing today.  

As citizens of God’s Kingdom, our goal is to encourage the enlargement of God’s Kingdom in hearts and communities of men. Scripture speaks of God’s Kingdom in three dimensions. At John 3:3, 5, Jesus says:

 …“Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot SEE the Kingdom of God. …Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit he cannot ENTER into the Kingdom of God…..”

First is the dimension of seeing; second is the dimension of entering; third is the dimension of inheritance. This was what Apostle Paul spoke about in II Corinthians 6:9-10 when he, by inspiration of the Holy Spirit wrote,

Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not INHERIT the Kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor homosexuals, nor thieves, nor the covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers will inherit the Kingdom of God.

There is no gainsaying the fact that as Christians we have seen and entered the Kingdom (the Church) – what remains, therefore, is inheritance (making Heaven at last!). To help us achieve this goal, Congregations across the world are encouraging and engaging in intra and inter-congregational fellowships. This gathering is one of those efforts at encouraging spiritual and personal growth of Christians.

The need for mutual strengthening of one another is seen in Proverbs 27:17: “As iron sharpens iron, so a friend sharpens a friend.” Writing to Roman Christians, Apostle Paul at Romans 1:11-12 emphasized the need for purpose-driven and eternity-oriented fellowships when he wrote,

For I long to see you so that I may impart some spiritual gift to you, that you may be established; that is, that I may be encouraged together with you while among you, each of us by the other’s faith, both yours and mine.

Christian Fellowship is mutually beneficial. In the days of Prophet Isaiah, servants of God were actively encouraging one another through fellowship. At Isaiah 41:6-7, we read:

Each one helps his neighbour and says to his brother, “Be strong!” So the craftsman encourages the smelter, and he who smooths metal with the hammer encourages him who beats the anvil, saying of the soldering, “It is good.” And he fastens it with nails, so that it will not totter.

This Gathering, as always, is for Christians to share in the Word, encourage one another in matters that pertain to life and godliness (cf. II Peter 1:3).

CHRISTIAN YOUTH AND PROCRASTINATION

            The topic assigned to me is an important one: “Christian Youth and Procrastination.” The goal is to help us take decisive actions towards fulfilling our God-ordained destinies.

WHAT IS PROCRASTINATION?

1.    It is being busy doing things you are not supposed to do in preference for things you are supposed to do.

2.    Napoleon Hill once remarked that “Procrastination is the bad habit of putting off until the day after tomorrow what should have been done the day before yesterday.”

3.    Procrastination is opportunity’s greatest enemy. When we procrastinate, we Pass Over Opportunities Repeatedly (POOR).

Procrastination is a universal malady that has afflicted billions of souls irrespective of race and religion. Procrastination is an enemy of success. If you must make progress in life, one of the enemies you must fight to a standstill is PROCRASTINATION.

You are your own best friend when you overcome procrastination, but your own worst enemy if you do not. The day I discovered the evils of procrastination to destiny fulfillment was the day I stopped believing that someone somewhere was hell-bent on causing my downfall or is the mastermind of my misfortune.

I have come to realize that many of the problems we have in life are decision problems. There is always a prize to pay for not making the right decision. Are you aware that indecision is a decision? Any time you are undecided about something, you have taken a decision about that matter. At I Kings 18:21, we read:

Elijah came near to all the people and said, “How long will you hesitate between two opinions? If the Lord is God, follow Him; but if Baal, follow him.” But the people did not answer him a word.

The truth of life is that no one can successfully stand on the fence – you are either for this or for that. In Entrepreneurship we say that “it is a risk not to take risk.” Again, you must have heard that when we fail to plan, we actually plan to fail.

Everything in life revolves around decision. It is this decision that procrastination seeks to destroy. However, when we procrastinate, we have invariably decided not to do what we ought to do. By this we shirk our responsibilities to ourselves and to our generations. When we lose opportunity by not taking action, we become indebted to the action we failed to act upon.

Procrastination is not only the thief of time, but the enemy of time. Omar Iban, Caliph of a Muslim State from 633-644 AD once remarked, “There are four things which come not back: time past, neglected opportunity, the spoken word and the sped arrow.”   

THRUST OF MY PRESENTATION

The thrust of this presentation is: Do not leave for tomorrow what you should do today. Why? Because today is that tomorrow we talked about yesterday while today will become the yesterday we will refer to in the ‘tomorrow’ that never comes. In view of this, TODAY is the only currency that we have to make the transactions needed for a better today and a glorious future.  

Do not wait for life to happen, make life happen. Do not live life by chance, but by choice. Live life by design, not by happenstance. In his book, Reposition Yourself: Living Life Without Limits, T. D. Jakes (2007:4, 8) observed and asks,

Many of us attribute success or failure to fate or some external force. We believe that we have to be in the right place at the right time in order to achieve, much like winning the lottery. But success is a direct consequence of our wanting a more abundant life and working hard to earn it, like wadding through the mud puddles of life toward the beckoning sea…. Isn’t it time for you to direct your hope toward building your dreams instead of waiting on your dreams to build themselves?”   

Achieving your goals in life is not a serendipity affair – it is not a chance happening. Actions and reactions remain equal and opposite. What you sow into life is what you receive back from it. What you throw at life is what life throws back at you. You must learn to go for what you want even when others are not prepared to help you birth your dreams. To do this, you must deal with the enemy of your progress – procrastination!

Those who procrastinate are in the Valley of Decision (Joel 3:14). At I Kings 20:38-40, a scenario which bespeaks of procrastination is painted vividly:

Then the prophet went and took a position along the road, with a bandage over his eyes, waiting for the king. It wasn’t long before the king happened by. The man cried out to the king, “Your servant was in the thick of the battle when a man showed up and turned over a prisoner to me, saying, ‘Guard this man with your life; if he turns up missing you’ll pay dearly.’ But I got busy doing one thing after another and the next time I looked he was gone.” The king of Israel said, “You’ve just pronounced your own verdict.”–The Message (MSG)

 In Bible, Governor Felix exemplified a procrastinator per excellence. At Acts 24:24-26 we read:    

A few days later Felix and his wife, Drusilla, who was Jewish, sent for Paul and listened to him talk about a life of believing in Jesus Christ. As Paul continued to insist on right relations with God and his people, about a life of moral discipline and the coming Judgment, Felix felt things getting a little too close for comfort and dismissed him. “That’s enough for today. I’ll call you back when it’s convenient.” -The Message (MSG).

Felix never did!

THINGS TO KNOW ABOUT PROCRASTINATORS AND

PROCRASTINATION

1.    A procrastinator is a wheel barrow, not a propeller.

2.    The language of procrastinators is, “I will; I will” but they never will.  

3.    A procrastinator is a person who postpones a duty for no definite day and suddenly wakes up to realize that there is no time left, goes into panic mode and finally resorts to Fire Brigade approach.

If you live life this way, you will never amount to anybody and if you ever did, you will be operating below your capacity.    

DEALING WITH PROCRASTINATION

1.    Live Each Day at A Time.

Kay Lyons Stockham once remarked,

“Yesterday is a cancelled check; tomorrow is a promissory note; today is the only cash you have - so spend it wisely.”

2.    Do Not Bank on Tomorrow Because There is no “Tomorrow.”

Do you remember the “No Credit” notice hung on most provision stores of yester years – “No credit today, come tomorrow”?

There is no tomorrow (only a future). We only have yesterday and today. Therefore, every action must be taken within the context of today. At Matthew 6:34, Jesus said,

“Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof.” (KJV)

Proverbs 27:1 says,

“Do not boast about tomorrow, for you do not know what a day may bring forth.”

          James 4:13-14 says,

Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go to such and such a city, spend a year there, buy and sell, and make a profit”; whereas you do not know what will happen tomorrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes away.

We are not guaranteed tomorrow. Delaying to do something until tomorrow may run counter to our successes.   

3.    Take Action, NOW!

No other time other than NOW is the right time to do it. NOW is the right time to act. In Scripture, the time for action is always NOW. At II Corinthians 6:1-2 we read:

And working together with Him, we also urge you not to receive the grace of God in vain for He says, “At the acceptable time I listened to you, And on the day of salvation I helped you.” Behold, NOW is “the acceptable time,” behold, NOW is “the day of salvation.”

God’s language for action is “TODAY.” Hebrews 3:7-8 says,

Therefore, as the Holy Spirit says: “Today, if you will hear His voice, “Do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion, in the day of trial in the wilderness….”

4.    Do Not Be A Talker, Be A Doer.

And in this I give advice: It is to your advantage not only to be doing what you began and were desiring to do a year ago; but now you also must complete the doing of it; that as there was a readiness to desire it, so there also may be a completion….- 2 Corinthians 8:10-12.

   This group of Christians had made plans to do something a year ago, but kept procrastinating about it. Apostle Paul wrote to encourage them to do what they ought to do. He urged them not to be talkers, but doers. That is what God is asking from all of us today – become doers not talkers. “Professors” (those who say they will) are not “possessors” (those who own their dreams). It takes deliberate actions to become a possessor!     

CONCLUSION

Resolve to reinvent yourself, re-sharpen your focus and increase your productivity by dealing with the insidious monster of procrastination. I encourage you to take that step you have always procrastinated about:

1.    Study that book, enroll into that class and go for that skill you have always wanted.

2.    Cultivate that relationship or mend that relationship you have always wanted.  

3.    Engage in that evangelistic activity you have always procrastinated about.

 4. Settle with God today by reconciling with Him through faith in His Son Jesus

    Christ.

 5. What are those things you have been procrastinating about?

     Time, it is, for us to do what we all should do when we should do them. That  done, we will forever put behind us the monster of procrastination.

     God bless us all.      

Hilary Johnson Chukwuma Chukwurah

Phone: 0803 959 6919. E-mail: hilaryjohnsonc@gmail.com