His parents have been looking for him for days. They were bothered. Where could he have been? What could have taken his time and attention that he was not showing up at home? They later found him where he was meeting with a few folks, discussing the scriptures and life generally. “Where have you been, son?”, they asked him. His response was, “Don’t you know that I must be about my Father’s business?” That response carried some weight. It was to define his approach to life and ministry.
Friend, Jesus has given us an approach to life and ministry that we would do well to heed; he saw ministry as “my Father’s business…” (Luke 2:49). Life/Ministry is business and it takes people with business-like approach to fulfil their destiny of greatness. Whatever God commits unto your hands must be taken seriously. It is business. We have been told to “occupy or do business till He comes” (Luke 19:13). We have been asked to keep our callings undistracted (1Kings 20:39-40).
What does it mean to see life and ministry as business? It means to face it with the understanding, earnestness and focus of a business man. God is a business man. He is into people business. He desires profits. He has plans and strategies. He works as Jesus does; “My Father works hitherto, and I work…I must work the works of Him that sent me while it is day…” (John 5:17, 9:4). Jesus was not playing games. He was not beating about the bush. He meant business and He faced His ministry with so much focus and dedication that He was done in just about three years!
I want to encourage and challenge everyone who is into pulpit or Church ministry today to see ministry as business. It is the biggest business enterprise in the world. We don’t just deal with goods and services or financial profits, we deal with people. The eternal destinies of men and women have been committed into our hands. God wants profits. He wants to have many sons (and daughters) brought into their eternal destinies (Hebrews 2:10). He has enlisted us as co-labourers with Him (1 Corinthians 3:9). We must see and work the way God does as we partner with Him to deliver His plans and agenda on the earth.
Like Paul, we must not be disobedient to the Heavenly vision (Acts 26:19). We must run with a vision, burn with a passion and stay with a laser beam focus as we emerse ourselves into the work, fulfilling our divine mandates. We must deploy scriptural principles of business and management to work out our callings in God. Time must not be wasted. We must be good stewards of the financial, material and human resources given us by God to carry out the business of our ministry. We must develop and deploy a strong work ethic. We must tap into His strategies to push the work forward even in the midst of uncertainties.
As business men with God, we must leverage His Grace to give results and not excuses when we face Him on earth here and in Heaven. We must take cognizance of the gifts and abilities He has given us for the assignment and stop giving excuses or looking at what others have. We must make up our minds that we would return the Capital of the Calling, Grace and Gifts given unto us with dividends that are commensurate with these investments. We must be able to say like Jesus that, “…I have finished the work which you gave me to do” (John 17:4). Amen!
© ‘Demola Awoyele
Lead Pastor,
Destiny Impact Church
Akure, Nigeria