Daily Devotionals

The concept of sin is important. While the grace of God empowers us to do incredible things, sin pulls us back. Sin blocks us right now from maximizing our lives. I have long argued that spiritual purity is important, even from a strictly business point of view. You must exercise restraint and be on the watch to ensure that you do not engage in things that would make you lose the grace of God. Whether it can be proven scientifically or not is irrelevant; we know that the grace of God is very real and tangible.

Certain kinds of people can afford to lead a reckless life. They are consumed by their lust and are forever locked in a sin-and-repent-again cycle. Such a lifestyle does not work for the watchman. You are not looking at being holy enough to make heaven. You are channeling God’s grace into the dark world around you in an active way. Contemporary history and the bible as well is filled with examples of people who did things that made them fall from grace. They rose fast and shined bright as shooting stars. However, they die out just as suddenly as they started. Sin wrecked their trajectory at their finest hour.

It is important to understand that there are things you do that make you lose your momentum in life. And there are things you do that help you maximize your life and build up even more momentum. God cannot be mocked, the soul that sins is cut short. Wicked and greedy souls cannot continue to think that by just reciting a creed as often as they can, they would continue to enjoy the best of sin and grace at the same time. This is simply a religious fantasy and it is wrong. When you sin, God will forgive you but you are losing momentum. Sin-now-repent-later does not work for the watchman. Sin is just too expensive for any business-minded watchman. You will lose your momentum.

A good way to describe a watchman is someone that takes things hard, so that others can take it easy. The overall goal of a watchman is to take responsibility for steering all of us towards a better future. They have to take things hard. You need to realise that anytime you are able to take things easy, there must be someone else that has done the hard parts. Good governance is about embracing the hard work of creating systems and institutions that work so that people can be empowered to better take charge of their affairs. If you are serious about functioning as the salt and light of the world, you have to take things hard.

Stop dreaming about the impact your work could have. Start working towards the impact you want to have. We always tend to underestimate just how much work is required for us to actually get desired results. A real watchman doesn’t brag publicly about their work ethic and how they are working for over eighteen hours everyday. However, you would do well to pay attention to their work ethic and how their life revolves around their work. While most “normal” people are happy to work “9 to 5”, which works out to eight hours a day, forty hours a week, people who make a difference work much harder than that.

There is hard work to be done by a few inorder for the majority to “enjoy” an easy life. Jesus famously died for our sins, redeeming our lives and giving us a chance to become children of God. You can relate to the parents that did all they could in order to make life easier for their children. The children of Israel got a chance to escape slavery and return to their promised land only because Moses and his team took things hard. Everybody that made their mark in life did so by embracing the hard work others are avoiding.

The bible instructs us to ensure that our hearts are always in the right place. Keep your heart with all vigilance, for from it flow the springs of life. (Proverbs 4:23 ESV). It is hard to keep the momentum of your life going when there are heart issues to be resolved. Heart issues will destroy you from inside-out. Keep watch over your heart. You must guard against things like envy, greed, strife and selfish ambition because according to James 3:14 – 16, these things will lead to disorder and evil of every kind.

When your heart is free from these evils, you will be able to focus on the more important matters of life. Nothing will hold you back. We have seen over and over again how heart issues have derailed even the most gifted and disciplined people. Greed is a very common example especially in the corporate world. It has been well documented that greed always derails people from their original mission. They start well and build up momentum, only to lose it all as they become greedy. Greed leads to envy, envy leads to strife and this will open the door to every other thing.

Your watch must begin from your heart. You must never forget why you set out in the first place. A pharmaceutical company set the price of a very important drug at half a million dollars per year per patient. They did that because they know their patients have no other options. And that public health care systems and insurance companies are willing to pay that amount. It is greed and it will corrupt whatever spiritual mission the company started with. Anger is another common example. Anger would destroy in a few minutes what took decades to build. After five or ten years of watching your world, would you still be in service of God or your own selfish ambitions? You must work hard to ensure your heart is always in the right place.

There is no way to escape the need for discipline and perseverance as a watchman. You must be disciplined enough to do whatever needs to be done, regardless of how you feel. You must decide to commit to persevere until the desired change comes. It does not matter how simple or trivial you perceive your assignment to be. If you want changes within the socio-economic sphere of the society, that is what it takes. One interesting thing about discipline and perseverance is that you need external influences to help you develop these skills. 

When you study the lives and times of outstanding people, you should pay attention to their discipline and ability to persevere long enough. You will find the person, persons or external factors that helped them become more disciplined and patient with the process. Discipline is not fun, but it always pays off big-time. It takes a well-trained and mature person to drive the changes we all dream about. Whether you are talking about Abraham or Moses, Peter or Paul. You will find this pattern of a strong conviction (faith) that instils discipline and demands perseverance. 

The Bible makes it clear that God wants us to be disciplined and to not grow weary of correction and reprimands (Proverbs 3:11‭-‬12). The Lord disciplines and brings us into maturity through our parents, trainers, mentors and teachers. We are also forced to confront our inadequacies and grow when we face certain situations and circumstances. Like the Psalmist said: “It is good for me that I was afflicted, that I might learn your statutes.” (Psalm 119:71 ESV). There are circumstances and situations that are currently unpleasant, but if you allow God to work within you, it will help you form discipline and the ability to persevere.

One of the keys to unlocking your potential is patient faith. A person of faith must also be a person of patience. Faith to believe God for it, patience to follow through the process and journey. You must be so persuaded within yourself that every single day, you set out to work towards your goals even if there are no visible results at the moment. You have to believe that one day; someday, you can become powerful enough, rich enough or knowledgeable enough to solve the social and economic problems you cannot stop thinking about.

“So that you may not be sluggish, but imitators of those who through faith and patience inherit the promises.” (Hebrews 6:12 ESV)

This verse from the Bible offers life changing advice packed in a few words. If you are having faith that God can use you to accomplish something extraordinary, you ought to pay attention. You are admonished here to never allow your heart to give up. Never lose your enthusiasm and confidence that you will win. Follow the example of those who fully received what God has promised because of their strong faith and patience.

There are countless examples of people to draw inspiration from as you embark on your life’s journey. And it is your job to find them out. It does not matter what you are trying to accomplish, it has been done before. God has performed those same miracles through others before and you have to find out how they got it done so that you can learn. If you have not yet identified between three to seven “heroes of faith” with a similar mission to yours, you need to sit up. You should study biblical characters and also read biographies of people who worked social and economic miracles in their days. You will observe a common thread of patient faith. 

The secret to making the most of your lifetime is to understand long term goal planning. You overestimate what you can achieve within a year and underestimate what you can achieve within a decade. We do this because of how things work, as opposed to how we want them to work. Working with a short time frame of a year traps you within the “penny-wise and pound-foolish” conundrum. Every great and mighty accomplishment will require you to sacrifice short-term gains for results that compounds over time. That is why it does not matter wherever you start from, you can succeed. You just need to “carry” that vision within your spirit and commit to it for the long term.

Once you can understand this principle, you would begin to identify it everywhere. Jesus grew into his ministry over a span of eighteen years. We get that figure when we compare what the Bible said about him at age twelve with the fact that he began his public ministry around age thirty. He grew into it over time. Elon Musk got on my radar around 2012. I immediately realized that over time he would become a big deal. Ten years later, he is the richest man in the world (April 2022). Elon Musk did this by identifying the biggest problems of mankind and then committing to solving them over the long term.

It is probably unreasonable to think that you would build a billion-dollar company within six months. It would be impossible. However, if you are willing to work towards it for ten years, you increase your chances of success. The daily activities of someone trying to make ten million Naira in 2022 would look totally different from someone with an ambition to build a net worth of two billion dollars by 2032. My research actually suggests that ten years is enough for most people to overturn poverty into good success. And that nothing is impossible if you can work with a twenty-five-year timeline. It does not matter how poor, unconnected or uneducated you are right now. You can succeed if you understand this principle.

When you think about your life and what is possible, there is the chance of undervaluing your abilities. It is not like you do not have anything working for you at the moment. The trouble is that you are not yet clear on what is possible when you allow your growth to compound over time. In the process of time, anything is possible. You are too fixated on the present and as such, you are not headed in any direction that would truly satisfy your soul. This needs to change. You are overestimating what you can achieve within a year, while cheating yourself in the long run. 

The greatest people in all history grew into the giants we consider them to be, over time. In the process of time, a university-wide social networking website grew into a worldwide phenomenon that has changed human history forever (Facebook). The founder (Mark Zuckerberg) and the company have gone through a lot of growth phases. In fact, the company is right now evolving again into what Mark has described as a “metaverse” company. You might not like Mark Zuckerberg, but even his enemies have to respect his growth and the way he has carried his vision within his spirit for nearly two decades now.  

We all have something we can learn from Mark Zuckerberg. If you can “carry” your vision in your spirit and commit to growing in phases. You will discover that in the process of time, you are building the wealth – knowledge, skills, assets, relationships, and the money you need to make a difference at the level you desire. There is only so much you can do week after week. The real thing is when you take a long-term view. You have to consciously live with the mind-set that in the process of time, you will be transformed inside-out. You are not much right now, but you can get better in the process of time.

Whenever you think about your vision for a better world and conclude that you cannot achieve it. You are wrong because you have failed to account for the process of time. Your present self is too weak, poor and illiterate to really get anything done. However, in the process of time, anything is possible. Plato is usually credited with the quote: “Every king springs from a race of slaves, and every slave has had kings among his ancestors”. Helen Keller echoed this ancient wisdom when she included the following in her autobiography: “There is no king who has not had a slave among his ancestors, and no slave who has not had a king among his.”

The Mighty King David was the first in a line of Kings. His father; Jesse was never described as a king. A study of the lives and times of David reveals how much a person can change in the process of time. David was anointed early in life (definitely before his twentieth birthday), but he never really became a king in the true sense of it until he clocked thirty years old. So, David was anointed king of Israel and yet for over a decade, there was no physical manifestation of the vision. God gave grace to David and built him up in statue over time. David went from shepherd boy to mighty King in the process of time.

We overthink what we can accomplish within six months or a year and then underestimate what we can do within ten years. It is a blessing to be able to identify the evils in your world and desire a change. However, you should understand and accept that you cannot fix social and economic challenges overnight. Like King David, it might take you more than a decade to grow into the person that can get the job done. The hero’s journey of David is not special or unique. Anyone with a dream can exercise some faith and patience towards their vision. That is the way to obtain results. What you really have to do is to submit to God and be humble. He will give grace for you to succeed and he will build you up.

You should start to focus less on your perceived abilities and talents. Learn to focus more on God, his mighty power and how he channels his grace through frail and fallible human beings. You need to understand that taking up responsibility to lead as the salt and light of the world is not about boasting in your strength. If you were already equipped to fix the society, what would you need God for? You must believe that God’s help is enough for you, and that the strength of the Lord works best when we acknowledge weakness.

But he gives more grace. Therefore it says, “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.”

(James 4:6 ESV)

The true watchman understands that they will never be wise enough, rich enough or powerful enough to watch over their world. You have to decide whether you want to respond to your calling or not. David (the biblical character) was a shepherd boy when he began his hero’s journey towards becoming the King of Israel. David did not become the King of Israel because he was powerful enough politically or rich enough to do so. We can see how he transformed over time into the great King we all know him to be. God gives grace to the humble and builds them up.

You are too weak and unqualified to fix the social or economic problems that bug your mind every day. This is perfect because the strength of Christ will overshadow you. This way, you will constantly remember to give God all the glory and be truly grateful for how far you have come. It is about an increased dependency on God to transform and empower you into the kind of person that can get the job done. It is all a leap of faith. The only thing you really need to do is to submit yourself to God.

We often find ourselves complaining about problems and challenges around us. The words of Captain Jack Sparrow come to mind: “The problem is not the problem. The problem is your attitude about the problem”. Seeing the problem, but somehow wishing or thinking that somebody from somewhere will step up to fix it is the wrong attitude. Let us be clear: you are not going to fix everything or everyone. You are not all-powerful. However, there are certain problems out there that you ought to take responsibility for. If you cannot stop thinking about it, then you ought to do something about it. You might not think you are able to do something about it, but you are wrong. 

For a long time, Gideon (the biblical character) had thought about the economic oppression in his days. He wondered, “Please, my Lord, if the Lord is with us, why then has all this happened to us? And where are all his wonderful deeds that our fathers recounted to us, saying, ‘Did not the Lord bring us up from Egypt?’ But now the Lord has forsaken us and given us into the hand of Midian.” (Judges 6:13 ESV). It was however revealed that Gideon was a mighty man of valor all along. Gideon had a lot of excuses to justify his reluctance to take a lead on changing his world.

You are feeling powerless. So did Gideon. He described himself as a member of the weakest clan in Manasseh, and the least in his father’s house. It doesn’t matter whether you feel too poor or uneducated or not connected enough to act. Your background and family history does not matter. The only thing that matters is your willingness to take up a watch over your world. It is your compassion for your world that will make the difference over time. Even if all you can do right now is pray about it, it is a start. When you take time to pray about problems with the right mindset, you will attract resources, knowledge and connections necessary to cause the change.