Most adults have three (3) areas of expression in life – their profession (or vocation), their business (or wealth-generating endeavour) and their passion (or dream). Their profession can be their profession, occupation or what they do every day (usually a skill they studied for in some tertiary, technical or professional institution). Their business is their wealth-generating enterprise, a source of greater income for them to execute greater projects and/or desires. Their dream is their passion; a cherished hope; an inborn gifting or talent; an ambition or an aspiration.
For a few individuals, all three wonderfully come together in one single enterprise. A quick scenario is a young man, who studied some personnel relations course in school (profession), runs a high-brow consulting outfit (business) and has the in-built gift of motivational speaking (passion). Another instance is a woman, a tailor by profession, having a multi-million naira fashion outfit with a passion to design affordable clothes for kids.
For other individuals, just two enterprises come together. Imagine a world-class lawyer or attorney running a chamber that rolls in millions per court case (profession and business) but would love acting (passion). Alternatively, imagine a high-earning university consultant professor (profession and business) whose deep-hearted passion is painting!
Still for others, all three come separate. Have you recently met a young mother of 3 or 4 kids who loves teaching kiddies Sunday school (passion), runs a women’s salon (business) and works in some government parastatal (profession). Or a university lecturer who has a cyber-café and loves athletics.
Which Enterprise Is The Best?
All three different categories of people could live wonderful lives every day because all three aspects are being expressed. They have a great job, a good financial base and above all, inborn talents being expressed. However, having all these three different aspects as all-together-different endeavours might induce some level of stress. You are distracted and your attention divided. You are tempted to drop one or two other aspects and concentrate on the one that you think gives you most joy (usually your passion, dream, aspiration and inborn gifting/talents) while risking the importance of the other phases and/or the quota they are contributing to your life. Therefore, it will be very important for you to, early in life, identify, discover and appreciate these 3 different aspects of your life and how they can be achieved collectively in one or two endeavours, if possible. You will need financial intelligence to know which one of the 1st (profession) or 3rd (passion) facets can be supported by business ideas. If this is not feasible or expedient for you to realize, don’t force it. However, if it is possible to do so with all due honesty, purity and integrity (devoid of greed and exploitation), please, go ahead. And do not say in your heart, “…My power and the might of my hand have gained me this wealth’ (But)…you shall remember the Lord your God, for it is He who gives you power to get wealth, that He may establish His covenant which He swore to your fathers, as it is this day.”[1]
Some people in life are sadly unaware of these issues in life. They have (erroneously) believed the lie of the devil that life is primarily about ‘making ends meet’ or ‘earning a living’ or ‘just to survive’ or ‘just to enjoy’. No, God teaches otherwise! He said to mankind at creation, “Be fruitful and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it; have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over every living thing that moves on the earth.”
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Fruitfulness is a basic God-given responsibility in life and He has given you everything necessary to accomplish it!
“Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord, as His divine power has given unto us all things that pertains to life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him who called us by glory and virtue” (2 Peter 1:2-3)
“And you shall remember the Lord your God, for it is He who gives you power to get wealth that He may establish His covenant which He swore to your fathers, as it is this day.” (Deuteronomy 8:18)
Another basic level of assignment is multiplication – taking what you have and multiplying it. Multiply your financial resources; reproduce your gifts and talents in other people. Give generously and watch God bless and multiply you.
“After a long time the lord of those servants came and settled accounts with them. So he who had received five talents came and brought five other talents, saying, Lord, you delivered to me five talents; look, I have gained five more talents besides them. His lord said to him, well done, good and faithful servant; you were faithful over a few things, I will make you ruler over many things. Enter into the joy of your lord…For to everyone who has, more will be given, and he will have abundance; but from him who does not have, even what he has will be taken away.” (Matthew 25:19-29)
“And when your herds and your flocks multiply, and your silver and your gold are multiplied and all that you have is multiplied” (Deuteronomy 8:13)
Yet another level of responsibility is to subdue. The Oxford mini Reference Dictionary defines the verb subdue as to “bring under control; make quieter or less intense.” Listen to me dear partaker of righteousness; you are not a victim of life’s circumstances because you have all it takes to subdue the spiritual, financial, emotional, physical, moral, social and environmental challenges of life if you believe in Jesus! “You are of God, little children, and you have overcome them, because He who is in you is greater than he who is in the world”
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“For whatever is born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world – our faith. Who is he who overcomes the world, but he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God?” (1 John 5:4-5)
And finally, have dominion! You not only belong to a kingdom of gentle, meek worshippers, you also belong to a kingdom of bold, blessed rulers; you belong to a KINGDOM of PRIESTS!
“The scepter shall not depart from Judah, nor a Lawgiver from between his feet, until Shiloh comes; and to Him shall be the obedience of the people.” (Genesis 49:10, with author’s emphasis)
“Now therefore, if you will indeed obey My voice and keep my covenant, then you shall be a special treasure to Me above all people; for all the earth is mine. And you shall be to Me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation. These are the words which you shall speak to the children of Israel.” (Exodus 19:5-6, with author’s emphasis)
“But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light” (1 Peter 2:9, with author’s emphasis)
“and from Jesus, the faithful witness, the firstborn from the dead, and the ruler over the kings of the earth. To him who loved us and washed us from our sins in His own blood, and has made us kings and priests to His God and Father, to Him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen” (Revelations 1:5-6, with author’s emphasis)
What is Life’s Highest Calling?
I believe one of life’s highest callings is to serve others in great humility. Jesus said, “…whoever desires to be great among you, let him be your servant. And whoever desires to be first among you, let him be your slave – just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve and to give His life a ransom for many.”[4]“Therefore whoever humbles himself as this little child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. Whoever receives one little child like this in My name receives Me.”[5]
Between the 19th and 32nd verses of Matthew 6, Jesus taught on a lot of issues: Treasures, Light, Service, Wealth and the necessities of life. He then concludes after them by saying, “But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, all these things shall be added to you. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient for the day is its own troubles.”[6] In this passage, He touched on the three enterprises of life and then reveals to us that the most fulfilling and highest call in life is to live for others. Life is not to be in pursuit of its necessities or wealth but in fulfilling the kingdom.
Permit me to illustrate. A career is wonderful but it must be one that establishes the kingdom if you are to live in fulfillment of your duties as a king and a priest of the kingdom of heaven. Wealth is an essential part of God’s kingdom and His will for us; after all “…it is He who gives you power to get wealth that He may establish His covenant which He swore to your fathers, as it is this day.”[7] Part of that covenant is what God gave to Abraham, “I will bless you…and you shall be a blessing…and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed” [8] The most important purpose of wealth is in establishing the Kingdom and propagating the Father’s core values.
“Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal; but lay up treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”[9]
If your wealth is being diverted to an eternal investment, your heart remains focused on eternity because for you to invest in eternity, that means you value it over mere earthly and temporal possessions.
“No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon.”[10]
In his book, The Coming Wealth Transfer, Matthew Ashimolowo explains that wealth is neutral and simply takes on the form (and core values) of its owner. You will either serve God with wealth (as a Kingdom steward) or serve the devil (accumulating and spending it over worldly, temporal and selfish lusts that do not measure up to eternal values in God).
For many youths, their desire is simply to get a good well-paying job, settle down, start a family and start living large. I must confess, this is wonderful and noble. Notwithstanding, it is more noble to have something to contribute to your nation and to humanity. It is nobler to fulfill God’s call and operate in Christ’s gift upon your life. This is seeking His kingdom.
