Ok, here’s something we all know, but sort of don’t like to consciously admit:

Success is very very tough.

Bill Gates said something like that in one edition of Guinness Book of World Records that I read sometime ago. Steve Jobs also made a similar statement in an interview of his that I read recently. These are two of the world’s most successful men; and they should know a thing or too about succeeding. Both men – and the rest of their breed, who have tasted phenomenal success – continuously assert that it is impossible to attain their level of success without countless hours of hard work.

I agree with them.

It will require a lot of arduous effort to be successful in any field of human endeavor.

Consequently, I challenge you to change your attitude to work. Then, roll up your sleeves and get on with it.

Work is a gift from our Creator. God is a worker. He created work and established it by working; so work is good.

"By the seventh day God had finished the work he had been doing; so on the seventh day he rested from all his work." (Genesis 2:2).

Notice that God rested on the seventh day, not because He pre-arranged to have it so, but because that was the day after He ‘had finished the work He had been doing’ In other words, He rested because He was done. The message here is that your signal to rest should not be the fact that you are tired; rather it should be the fact that you’ve  finished your projects.

Yes, you are not permitted to rest until your work is done. Tiredness should not be the signal to rest; it should rather be a signal to seek for more strength. After all, God has promised to renew our strength. There is provision for the renewal of strength. The right signal to rest is not tiredness; it is finishing the task.

God also instituted work in the Garden of Eden – in the first earthly paradise. First, He planted the Garden.

"Now the LORD God had planted a garden in the east, in Eden; and there he put the man he had formed." (Genesis 2:8).

Then He assigned to Adam the work of keeping it.

"The LORD God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it." (Genesis 2:15).

You see, before Adam was told what to eat and what not to eat from the Garden, He was instructed to work it and take care of it. The reason for this is that in God’s scheme of things, you are not allowed to eat until you’ve worked!

“For even when we were with you, we gave you this rule: ‘If a man will not work, he shall not eat.’ We hear that some among you are idle. They are not busy; they are busybodies. Such people we command and urge in the Lord Jesus Christ to settle down and earn the bread they eat.”
~ 2 Thessalonians 3:11,12

Adam was instructed first to work and take care of the Garden, because even in that perfect world, the principle of ‘If a man will not work, he shall not eat’ was there.  Adam basically had to earn his bread. The reality of human perfection and the paradise die not in any way nullify the principle of earning your bread. Work is not a curse, it is a gift. Work is an invitation from the Almighty God to participate in His glorious nature, and joy of creation.

It took work to create and maintain the Garden of Eden – the first paradise on earth. Therefore, if you want to enjoy paradise on earth, change your attitude to work, then roll up your sleeves and get on with it.

Work involves two things:

• Creatively using your mind, time, money, talents, gifts, strength, and skills to produce helpful products and services for humanity.
• Shrewdly, aggressively delivering these products and services to the largest number of people possible in exchange for their money.

Work is from God. It is good; and, just like God, you must be at it constantly.

"Jesus said to them, "My Father is always at his work to this very day, and I, too, am working".~ John 5:17.

Get on with it.

Work your mind.

Work your ideas.

Work your job.

Work your assignments.

Be focused daily on creating – or improving the quality, and speed of delivering already created – helpful products and services. Look at God’s works; they are extremely useful and beneficial to humanity. Let the same be said of your works.

More so, be proactive in seeking out more and more people to use your products and services, in exchange for their money.

Be tireless too.

"And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not." ~ Galatians 6:9

"God’s ultimate for you demands tireless input; it demands that you faint not. When you faint, it fails. Many would have gone far ahead, but unfortunately, just one more day to their breakthrough, they faint. Just one more day for a man’s heavens to open and reward his labors of many years, and he says, ‘I don’t think this thing is working!’ And he gives up.” ~ Bishop David Oyedepo

So you must remain tireless in your work.

Action Steps

What products and services do you already possess? Take stock of what is already at hand.

No much room for unnecessary experiments now.

Are they good enough for the market – that is, for people to pay for them? If not, what can you do to make them marketable? Then get with that immediately.

If it is already marketable, how can you get more and more people to buy it? Get on with that too.

To your prayer add fasting. To your praying and fasting add giving. To your praying, fasting, and giving, add thinking and planning. To all of the above add working; and crown it all with perseverance. Then watch and see a tsunami of wealth and good success flood your life.

Now, roll up your sleeves, and go to work.