The Tests

Matthew 20:²⁸ “For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve others and to give his life as a ransom for many.”

I love the apprenticeship system. There is a part of Nigeria that uses the apprenticeship system a lot. I think it is still the best way of grooming leaders and of starting businesses. Before you get your freedom from the apprenticeship system, you must have a master and serve that leader. Sometimes, the apprentice serves his master (mentor) for years. And if you watch, the ones that turn out great are those who serve their masters faithfully. The ones that are shoddy with their master’s business, do not turn out great. Again, it is because it is a principle of life. How you treat other people’s business determines how heaven will treat yours. Before God gives you your own, God will first loan it to you. Before you get your own, you need to serve someone else.

And one of the funny things I have heard people say is, I do not want to work for anybody. I just want to be my own boss. I smile because ninety-nine percent (99%) of human beings do not have that capacity. You can point to lone stars, one in every generation. But if you even hear their stories, the heart was very different. They are just graced and have the right heart. But for the rest of us, we need to serve. As a Pastor, I apprenticed under many different leaders with different temperaments. But by God’s grace, they will tell you that Femi is faithful. What will your leader say about you? It is big. You can claim that your leader does not like you, so you do not really care what he or she says about you. However, what your leader says about you has a lot to do with what God will do to you, check the scriptures! That is how it works.

The first thing is that God Uses The Little Things To Test Your Faithfulness. Secondly, God Uses Your Talent To Test Your Unselfishness. Yes, He does. And when we talk about talent, we are not referring to the giftings alone. We are talking about money and resources. In fact, the real meaning of talent is money. When Jesus gave talents to people, the talent was money. Luke 16:¹² “And if you are not faithful with other people’s money, why should you be entrusted with money of your own?” (LB). In life, you get to decide what you want to do, whether you will serve yourself or you will serve God’s purposes for your life. If you choose to serve yourself, your life will be miserable at the end of the day. But if you are serving God’s purposes for your life, you will be fulfilled at the end of the day. So, how do I serve God? You serve God by serving people.

Prayer: Father, help me to (like Jesus) truly serve God by serving God’s people faithfully and selflessly, in Jesus Name. Amen