#1.  Focus and tenacity

Jesus understood that He was here on a business. He came here to execute the investment of God and create profit – in terms of souls and a redeemed creation.

He was absolutely focused on His mission that He said it was His meat.

³⁴ “My food,” said Jesus, “is to do the will of him who sent me and to finish his work.” ~ John 4:34

What level of focus are you giving to your mission? How committed are you to your work, and to your business?

Jesus did not succeed just because He was God in the flesh; He succeeded because He applied the principles of diligence, commitment, focus, and tenacity to His mission.

#2.  Alert to opportunities

He was sensitive and alert to opportunities.

“³⁵ Don’t you have a saying, ‘It’s still four months until harvest’? I tell you, open your eyes and look at the fields! They are ripe for harvest.”~ John 4:35

Jesus Christ was sensitive to know where the opportunities for profit lay. His eyes were constantly open to see the fields that were ripe for harvest.

And He went were the opportunities for profit lay.

“⁴ Now he had to go through Samaria.” ~ John 4:4

He sensed something in that direction.

You have to develop your spirit. Sharpen your instincts and intuition to smell opportunities from far.

Look at the ants. They can smell sugar from afar! No matter where you keep it, they’ll smell it and rush towards it.

Don’t wait for opportunities to come to you. Sniff it from afar and go after it before others do. Life is a race; it’s a battle. Stop fooling around.

#3. Connect – cross barriers

You must learn how to connect across all boundaries. There are all kinds of boundaries: Racial, educational, financial, ethnic, religious, gender, and so on. Learn to connect across them, if you intend to be successful.

⁹ The Samaritan woman said to him, “You are a Jew and I am a Samaritan woman. How can you ask me for a drink?” (For Jews do not associate with Samaritans. ~ John 4:9

Jesus was a Rabbi. That constituted a religious and status barrier.

He was a Jew. That was an ethnic and religious barrier.

He was male. That was a gender barrier.

And you could list a host of other barriers that stood between Him and the woman of Samaria. Yet, that woman had something that Jesus wanted; she had a soul that was ripe for salvation. Then she had influence with all the men in a particular city. There was no way Jesus was going to pass up that opportunity.

A lot of us allow all kinds of barriers to hinder us from stepping into what God has in store for us. It’s time to cross the barriers and connect with those who have what you want.

A lot of what you want is not in your current network. So, expand it. Reach out. Include more people. Be willing to connect with different kinds of people. Become profit-oriented and result-oriented in your networking.

It’s ok to hang out with the disciples for their commitment and loyalty. But you’ve got to reach out to the woman of Samaria too. Reach out to Matthew and Zacheaus – the tax collectors. There’s something in those circles for you.

It’s all about the results

“³⁹ Many of the Samaritans from that town believed in him because of the woman’s testimony, “He told me everything I ever did.” ⁴⁰ So when the Samaritans came to him, they urged him to stay with them, and he stayed two days. ⁴¹ And because of his words many more became believers.

⁴² They said to the woman, “We no longer believe just because of what you said; now we have heard for ourselves, and we know that this man really is the Savior of the world.”~ John 4