YOU ARE MARKED FOR PROMOTION

By Rev. Michael Benson Ajayi

GOD’S CRITERIA FOR PROMOTION

 Luke 19:17”And he said unto him, Well, thou good servant: because thou hast been faithful in a very little, have thou authority over ten cities.” KJV

       This parable illustrates God’s principle of promotion and accountability. There are those who define grace as “unmerited favour” this implies to an extent that the outcome of our decisions on earth excludes any form of impute from us. By this theology, the fellow who ran the fastest in an Olympic 100 meter race should not necessarily be given the gold medal even if he ran according to laid down rules and regulations. This belief has led to a lot of mediocrity among God’s people and corruption in society. It gives no room for accountability, probity and transparency which are a sine qua non for the positive development of any community. God’s mercy is neither merited nor unmerited however; it has to be acknowledged for it to be valid in a person’s life.

        Grace means amnesty or God’s mercy towards man. The Greek word for grace is the word ‘Charis’, it means a divine influence .It is by this influence that humanity was unilaterally declared not guilty before God by virtue of Jesus’ substitutionary sacrifice on the cross. Even at that, until a person accepts this provision by faith (with its corresponding work), it remains of no effect to the individual. There is a co-relationship between what a man does and how grace work. That’s why the scripture says, faith without work is dead. The theology that downplays the importance of work in our salvation experience is wrong theology and is counterproductive to the development of any society. It encourages laziness and leads to poverty (James2:17-18).   

    The parable in Luke 19:11-27 teaches that Jesus Christ has given talents and gifts to His disciples to prosecute God’s kingdom agenda: the winning of souls (John15:16) on earth pending when he will return.

            Those who are faithful (trustworthy) in using their skills, experience, finances, talents, and knowledge in the expansion of the kingdom of God will be given more positive socio-political influence among men. They will have access to the corridor of power globally; this is indicated by the clauses “occupy till I come” and in Luke 19:17 “have thou authority over ten cities”. One of the ten servants had served himself and not His master. He loved money more than God. Such persons are never having enough to serve God. He was unproductive with what his lord had given him. Persons who do not consciously invest in the expansion of God’s kingdom are consciously investing in the expansion of Satan’s kingdom and God calls these ones wicked. The excuse often given is that they do not have enough. Not even the richest man on earth has enough, if he did, he shouldn’t be working. It is a matter of where one’s passion is: money or God? A Christian isn’t successful in business or work until people get born again through their business or job (Matt.9:36-38, Matt.12:30).

     God’s angels aren’t obligated to give protection to any business or job whose owner isn’t actively involved in the propagation of God’s kingdom (Zechariah 1:17-21, Haggai 1:6-11).” How much of my talent, skills, experience, knowledge and finances are expended on the expansion of God’s kingdom on a daily bases?” is a question that every born again Christian should ask themselves daily.  Jesus instructed that the one talent of the wicked servant be taken from him and given to the faithful servant. Serving Christ is a commitment that requires conscious calculated, active participation and God expects us to grow in this relationship with Him. We are to use God’s money wisely. May you never lose your place to another in Jesus name. 

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