THE KINGDOM PRINCIPLES OF MONEY

Principle Number 5

Discover the ingredients of success Part 2

Pastor Maselo Mosomane

“And unto one he gave five talents, to another two, and to another one; to every man according to his several ability.” Matthew 25: 15. Why didn’t he give them equal amounts? What decisive measure did he use to see who qualify for what? Jesus tells us in this parable that he gave to every man according to his several abilities. ABILITIES.

In Matthew 25, especially in verse 15, Jesus seems to be implying that the amount of responsibility one would be entrusted with will depend on the ability or skill one has. The Master is saying your skill will determine the level of trust you can be entrusted with. We can say in simple terms: the amount of wealth, power or authority you can be trusted with will have a lot to do with your ability to manage it. More ability will attract more responsibility more responsibility, more wealth. Less ability attracts less responsibility and less responsibility less wealth.

Your skill will give you the ability and confidence to carry out a task. When you do not know what you are doing or unsure of yourself, you become timid and withdraw. Timidity is an unproductive state and when you are trapped in this condition; your performance is likely to be hampered. This state is more often than not caused by lack of knowledge or skills.

I think this is the right place for us to realize how important it is for one to acquire a skill or more and be entrusted with responsibility. Employers are looking for people with skills, and those with specialized skills will always get first preference. More skills will attract more opportunities and more opportunities more money. Skills open more doors. Little or no skill at all will attract fewer opportunities or none. Any country with more unskilled labourer force will have its gross domestic production highly affected. The rest of the story is an open secret. Human assets (skillful people) are more important than any kind of asset.

God also wants skillful people. I remember when Solomon had to build the temple. “Then Solomon determined to build a temple for the name of the LORD, and a royal house for himself. Solomon selected seventy thousand men to bear burdens, eighty thousand to quarry stone in the mountains, and three thousand six hundred to oversee them. Then Solomon sent to Hiram king of Tyre, saying: As you have dealt with David my father, and sent him cedars to build himself a house to dwell in, so deal with me. Behold, I am building a temple for the name of the LORD my God, to dedicate it to Him, to burn before Him sweet incense, for the continual showbread, for the burnt offerings morning and evening, on the Sabbaths, on the New Moons, and on the set feasts of the LORD our God. This is an ordinance forever to Israel. And the temple which I build will be great, for our God is greater than all gods. But who is able to build Him a temple, since heaven and the heaven of heavens cannot contain Him? Who am I then, that I should build Him a temple, except to burn sacrifice before Him? Therefore send me at once a man skillful to work in gold and silver, in bronze and iron, in purple and crimson and blue, who has skill to engrave with the skillful men who are with me in Judah and Jerusalem, whom David my father provided.”11Chronicles 2: 4-7. Solomon imported skill from Huram, king of Tyre because there were few skillful people in Israel at that time and the task was just too much for them. God wants skillful people.

Many times we complain about unemployment and lack of job opportunities and we blame the government yet the real problem is in skill deficiency. When you are unemployed, the best thing to do; I suppose would be to acquire a skill first and make yourself marketable.

When we neglect skills development, skilled people will be imported. Most of the children of Israel worked as unskilled labourers in Solomon’s building projects. Listen, “And Solomon told out threescore and ten thousand men to bear burdens, and fourscore thousand to hew in the mountain.” Seventy thousand men to bear burdens, eighty thousand to cut stones on the mountain: a total of one hundred and fifty thousand unskilled labourers.

This is the case in most instances today, especially in the church. The demographic composition of our labour force can be divided into three categories; namely skilled, semi-skilled and unskilled labourers. Unskilled and semi-skilled labourers are in the majority. Skilled people are a rare species in our churches today and the situation has been like this for too long. I encourage every youth to be serious with his or her studies and acquire a profession and be equal to any task. When you make yourself skillful, you become empowered. You add value to yourself. Many people like to face life unprepared and wonder why it does not go well with them.

These three servants’ master applied the same criterion used in the business world when appointing or promoting people today. I think it is just fair for anyone to follow this selection procedure, for contrary to this would be undermining skill and ability. We must also bear in mind that the quality of any output is always determined by the quality of the input we provide. Let the best man be offered the best job. Why would we settle for the second best when the task demands the very best? Isn’t it better to do it right from the onset? Appoint the best man for the job and avoid unnecessary hassles tomorrow. That’s fair enough, isn’t it? Did you know that, it is much easier to appoint someone than to dismiss him? He paid nothing to come in but you may have to pay him thousands to send him off. To save yourself some future headaches, don’t fool around when you make appointments. Appoint skillful hands and instructed minds. This we learn from this businessman in Jesus’ story. Just one bad appointment nearly landed him in a mess.