Daily Devotionals

At the end of the day, we all want a prosperous future. A prosperous future requires us to be productive and enterprising. Strong economies are driven by productivity. However, you cannot have a strong economy without having strong institutions that reinforce certain values. Values that are in alignment with the future we want. This is why the devil and his agents attack institutions, especially sacred ones like family and church. The institution of marriage and family is under attack, and if the attack succeeds, the consequences will be severe. You must never lose sight of the fact that families provide the platform for individuals to be productive at a scale that matters.

The major difference between the human society and the animal kingdom is that human beings are able to self-organize into distinct families. The family is the smallest and most fundamental unit of the society. Several research and studies have shown that family gives you motivation to aspire towards becoming the best version of yourself. A 2015 report titled “Strong Families, Prosperous States” presented the fact that, “Higher levels of marriage, and especially higher levels of married-parent families, are strongly associated with more economic growth, more economic mobility, less child poverty, and higher median family income at the state level in the United States.”

The productivity of a nation depends upon the quality of its human capital. Human capital is shaped by family values. Strong families are the bedrock of prosperous nations. You cannot steer your world towards a better future without strong family values. There is no society without the family. The bible reinforces the value of families, and there is no wisdom in abandonment of this “ancient landmark”. You must resist any wave from hell that seeks to redefine and weaken marriage and family. Men and women alike must be ready to pay the price requirements of a strong and purpose driven home. In the real sense of it, your family is your first watch.

A major objection to the idea that you could watch over your world and steer it towards a better future is that you do not have the power to do so. The idea that there is nothing you can do about the world you find yourself in, and you are to resign to fate. However, this is not true. Powerlessness is nothing more than a state of mind. If you wish to wield the power to change your world, you can have it. We know that God is all-powerful, and that power is available for delegation to those willing to use it for the greater good.

If you look around, you would identify people and institutions that are shaping your world and steering it towards a future you do not want. The people currently changing the world, how are they doing it? Where did they get their world changing power from? Mark Zuckerberg is changing the world, he got his power by building a company that serves nearly three billion people everyday. President Muhammadu Buhari of Nigeria is changing your world, he got his power by navigating the murky waters of Nigerian politics. Pope Francis is a force to be reckoned with in the world, he got his power through the religious institution he heads.

You need to find the passion to spearhead a watch over your world, and refuse to cower away in fear. You can understand the power game enough to start accumulating some powers of your own. The bible says, “But you belong to God, my dear children. You have already won a victory over those people, because the Spirit who lives in you is greater than the spirit who lives in the world” (1 John 4:4 NLT). You can become powerful enough to change your world. You can wrestle your world away from negative influences. It will not be easy, and it might get ugly. However, we can agree that “difficult” is not the same thing as “impossible”.

It takes a village to succeed. You need to belong to the “right village” for you to achieve the kind of success and impact you crave for. An old proverb of West African origin says, “it takes a village to raise a child”. You cannot make yourself super successful by your own labour. The knowledge and power requirements for massive success makes it impossible for an individual to succeed without requiring help and services from others. You must understand this principle, and allow it to motivate you to take an interest in the people and institutions that define your world.

Investigate the roots of any extraordinary accomplishment, and you would discover that an entire village came together to make it happen. A single person might take the credit as the face of the accomplishment, but there is always a system in operation. Neil Armstrong would have never landed on the moon without the support of thousands of scientists, engineers, and politicians. Aliko Dangote could never erect a single factory without the help and services of engineers, financiers, politicians and other stakeholders. Ademola Morebise is the public face of a dedicated team of people working round-the-clock to publish the Watching the World devotionals everyday.

Understanding that you “need a village” is not a license to relocate. A watchman does not abandon “their village” for greener pastures. Their job is to shape that world, and influence their economies towards a better future. You start by identifying the scope of your world. It could be geographical, like a town, city or nation (a city is usually more practical). It could be an industry or a sphere of life like the fashion industry or family life and parenting. Pray about this and try to get some clarity around this. Once you have established the scope of your world, you then get to work. It is up to you to steer your world towards a more productive future for everyone.

The key to building a prosperous future is by setting up institutions, ecosystems and strong governance. You might be thinking you will prosper by working hard and taking responsibility for yourself, but this is not a complete picture. Your success and outcomes in life as an individual will always depend upon the world you find yourself. The system that governs your world will determine the kind of people that will emerge. There is a reason the brightest and most creative people relocate to the USA and seek citizenship there. Even Elon Musk realized early in life that it would take more than working hard to build out his creations in South Africa.

There is no strong economy without having strong institutions that reinforce values in alignment with the future we want. There is no benefit to having a handful of people succeed. You have to create a world that supports and empowers lots and lots of people to succeed. In 2019, French President Emmanuel Macron set what seemed like an ambitious objective: having 25 French start-ups valued at over $1 billion by 2025. These companies are colloquially referred to as “unicorns”. They achieved this by January 2022, three years ahead of schedule. President Emmanuel Macron tweeted, “These 25 startups valued at more than a billion dollars, and with them all of French Tech, are changing the lives of French people, create hundreds of thousands of jobs across France and are what make us sovereign!”. They have since set a new target of 100 unicorns by 2030!

It is not sustainable to propose that everyone should seek refuge in the USA or relocate to France. Jesus wants us to salt and light up our world, not cower away in frustration. Moses could not have delivered a better future to the enslaved Israelites by helping them escape in the dozens. He could not have eliminated the Egyptian slave masters one-by-one, he had to change their government. The only way to deliver the future is to set up institutions, ecosystems and strong governance that exist to steer your world. You need to meditate on this question, “what are you going to create the necessary conditions for?”

The call to watch your world is a shift in perspective. You are no longer content to mind your own affairs, but you are now interested in the betterment of a larger world. There is a major difference in minding your personal affairs and watching your world. Watching your world requires you to steer your world towards a desirable future. This is a call to a higher level of responsibility, and ought to be approached with much thoughtfulness. Your goal is not to help a person or two. The goal is to change the world in such a way that the results obtained within that world glorifies God.

Here is an illustration to help us understand this. Imagine that there was a fallen tree on the road, there are a number of ways the problem could be handled. The obvious solution would be to remove the fallen tree, ensuring that free flowing traffic is restored once again. However, there is another option, albeit lazy (and irresponsible). Every driver could try to drive around it. We could walk around the fallen tree one-by-one. This illustration demonstrates how we focus on personal ambition, short-term gains, and ignore the deeper problems in our world.

Your goal is not to sidestep the fallen tree. Your goal is to remove the tree and restore the free flow of traffic. If your world is more likely to produce illiterates, mediocres, louts and poor people. The solution is not to help a person or a dozen people to escape their fate. You have to identify the institutions responsible for the outcomes and work to destroy the system. You want to mold a future whereby people living in your world are more likely to be literate than illiterate. A new system that makes it possible to be productive, and enjoy a prosperous future. Watching your world is not about providing relief to a few people. It is about engineering a better society.

A popular old proverb of West African origin says, “it takes a village to raise a child”. This is a simple, but profound way to highlight the importance of “world building”. If you want certain outcomes, you have to build the institutions, ecosystems and governance that increases the likelihood of the desired results. You will fail with your task to steer your world towards a better future if you do not understand this. You do not build a better world by focusing on individual accomplishment. It takes a village to achieve certain goals.

It would seem that Nigerians do not understand the role of institutions, ecosystems and governance. The system and culture that produced seven hundred and twenty-four billionaires in the USA is greater than any individual billionaire. There is enough evidence for us to conclude that being a part of the right village matters a lot. Elon Musk was born to White South African parents in Pretoria, where he grew up. However, he realized early in life that the only place in the world that could support his grand ambitions was the USA. He relocated there in the passing of time and today, he is winning. It takes a village to achieve certain goals.

The time is right for the watchman (that’s you), to shift focus from how individuals can succeed and begin to think about how we can build better villages (institutions, ecosystems and governance). You might be thinking it is easier for people to just take personal responsibility, work harder and they would succeed. However, this is a myth. We are all products of systems, and the only way to create change at a scale that matters is by working on those institutions. You must take a long-term view and work towards taking control of the socio-economic and political institutions that drive your world. We must shape a better ecosystem. It takes a village to achieve certain goals.

You possess the ability to create and invent. You can develop ideas that are new (original) and useful. Creativity is a productive endeavor and in the passing of time, we should be able to point to your body of work. Creating your body of work (oeuvre) requires you to devote yourself to the art of creation. It is up to you to embrace the discipline and work ethic demands of a creative life that is above average. There is no benefit to having the ability to create, and yet create nothing in the passing of time. It might be of benefit for you to ponder upon the question; “where are my creations?”.

King Solomon spoke 3,000 proverbs, and his songs were 1,005. He spoke of trees, from the cedar that is in Lebanon to the hyssop that grows out of the wall. He spoke also of beasts, and of birds, and of reptiles, and of fish. And people of all nations came to hear the wisdom of Solomon (extract from 1 Kings 4: 29‭-‬34). We read about King Uzziah getting machines made, invented by skillful men, to be on the towers and the corners, to shoot arrows and great stones (2 Chronicles 26:15). We also read about Thomas Edison and his oeuvre; a body of work that includes 1,093 patents. He will always be remembered for inventing the incandescent light bulb and one of the earliest motion picture cameras.

Where are your creations? Where are your songs, poems, food recipes, books, apps or engines? You have the ability to create, but now, you must find the time, space and courage to explore your creativity. You might not be impressed with your creative output at the moment. However, you have to persist in quantity in order for the quality to improve over time. Creativity should not be restricted to spontaneous bursts or nothing will ever get done. You want to have a rigid creator’s schedule that provides the necessary structure around your creative talents. Developing a plan to create everyday by 3AM is better than waiting for inspiration to strike. This will allow you to create more often.

There are two important days in the life of a person; the day they are born, and the day they figure out why. When you begin to understand yourself enough to live a life consistent with your purpose. You will grow into a phase of character development and community building. This is a continuous process, as you continue to grow and mature into the person that can take things to the next level. The downside is that change is difficult for many to embrace, and growth is painful. This is the reason you will lose friends and close knit relationships as you continue to grow. You lose old friends and become part of a new community centered upon shared vision and values.

When you begin to grow and mature into a spiritually minded person. You start to understand your role in watching the world, and you soon discover that not everyone is willing to go that extra mile. They are not bad people, they are just not cut out for that kind of life. You soon have to choose between your relationship with them and your continuous spiritual growth. This should not be up for debate. You should always choose the spiritual path. Elisha held a final feast for his family before heading off to serve Elijah as an apprentice (1 Kings 19: 19-21). He did not hesitate to follow through.

You have to keep your eyes on the God-given vision. Be sure that you will get there, it is those that will be by your side when you do that you would not know. You should also not be too bothered about it. Your “family”, destiny-company and community will all sort themselves out in the passing of time. There will be old friends leaving quietly as you now have less shared values and interests, while you attract new people into your life. The more you grow spiritually, intellectually or physically, the more specialized the kind of fellowships you will need. Submit to God and let the process take its course.

You are not going to make much progress with your watch until you understand change at a systems level. A watchman should not be in the business of handouts. Handing out food, clothes and holding seminars for people are very nice gestures, but it does not deliver sustainable change. Watching your world is deeper than calling the attention of people towards taking personal responsibility for themselves. In the real sense of it, you are to take responsibility for the overall direction of the companies and institutions that define your world. Anything else amounts to “kicking stones” around while the mountains remain unmoved.

There was no way handouts or taking personal responsibility would have helped the black people who were born into slavery in the eighteenth century. They needed slavery as an institution to be abolished, and then they were empowered to take charge of their own affairs. The genius of Moses was not the ten plagues that struck Egypt or miraculously feeding millions in the desert. The real genius was that he created a system – institutions that could keep things going after he transitioned. People in slavery do not need daily bread or shiny new toys, they need a new governance structure.

There is something genius about the final charge Jesus gave his disciples as recorded in the Book of Matthew, “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit”. He was not asking them to simply preach, teach and heal. They had to build a system, an institution around their ideology. You have to adopt a similar mindset in your work. You should not be busy holding seminars or handing out relief materials that you forget to build and maintain institutions. Your world will be completely transformed if you focus more on building systems, institutions, schools and companies that are self-sustaining. Handouts are not sustainable or useful in the long-term.

It is not right to think you want to change the world on another person’s dime. You must develop a mindset that the substance of your labour is what will generate every resource required for the work you want to do. Stop thinking like the thief that wants to reap where they have not sowed. The idea that you should build a non-profit organization around your quest to change the world should be discouraged. This is because it creates “rent-seeking” change agents. Rent-seeking is an economic concept that refers to people (or entities) that want to partake and increase their own wealth without any value creation, or increase in productivity.

If you want to change the world in a way that is sustainable, independently verifiable and quantifiable, the best vehicle to do so is through a business. When you think about the biggest problems facing mankind, problems like illiteracy, disease, and poverty. The most work being done to fight these problems are done by for-profit companies. Free education is a noble goal, but we must understand the reality that providing high quality education is expensive. If you want to change your world by eradicating illiteracy, it is unreasonable to think you would do that by begging around for funds. You do not eradicate illiteracy by holding three-day workshops. One must commit to build schools and charge fair prices.

The bottom-line is that you should not operate as a rent-seeker. And do not be a beggar. Make your own money. Focus on your productivity, and create value as you drive the changes you want to see in society. The reality is that fundraising encourages a kind of behaviour that seems useful in the short-term, but it is harmful in the long term. It is easier to create buzz and raise funds for a three-day workshop than to coordinate the resources required to build a functional organization. It is hard to teach, train and mentor farmers over the years to increase their productivity. When you could just host a two-day seminar to “empower” them and move on to another community to repeat the tomfoolery. Unless you commit to drive your work by creating value, you cannot change anything.