PUTTING GOD’S GRACE TO WORK VI
1 Corinthians 15:8-10
Today, as we continue in our study about how to enjoy the fullness of God’s grace, we consider another factor that is critical in entering into and enjoying the fullness of God’s grace. This is the factor of being ambitiously hard-working. Our example today we will take from the story of Jacob as contained in the book of Genesis. In Genesis 32:7-10 the Bible says:
. . . Jacob said O God of my father Abraham and God of my father Isaac the Lord which said unto me return unto thy country unto thy kindred and I will deal well with thee. I am not worthy of the least of all the mercies and of all the truth which thou has shown unto thy servant for with my staff I passed over this Jordan and now I am become two bands.
The story of Jacob clearly explains how a true child of God can be hard-working, can be ambitious and God will bring to pass the fulfilment of his dreams and his purpose in his life. Jacob left his father’s house out of fear of suffering the consequence of what he did in supplanting Esau. When Jacob got to Laban, he began practically as a slave but he was very hard-working. He labored for fourteen years just get the woman of his dream. Later, he worked an additional six years during which God enabled him to have his own cattle. A major reason why he was able to enter into that dimension of prosperity is because he was hardworking and consistent at it. He didn’t give up in the face of contrary circumstances but stayed upon his assignment until he got his dream fulfilled. How hard are you willing to work for your dreams?
In 1 Corinthians 15:9-10, Apostle Paul describes how he became one of the greatest Apostles including writing a larger part of the New Testament. He puts it like this- ‘the grace of God was available but nevertheless I laboured more than every other person’. No wonder the grace of God was able to produce far more result in his life than in the life of many other people who were in Ministry at the same time. God expects us to be ambitiously hardworking. No indolent child of God will enjoy the fullness of what heaven has in mind for him or her, rather Grace works with hard work. Your Paul must first plant and your Apollo water before God’s grace can produce the desired increase.
CONFESSION: LORD, I commit myself to working hard with your grace that is upon my life and I trust you to you enter into the fullness of what God has in mind for me in the name of Jesus. Hallelujah!!
