Thursday October 22nd, 2026
Meditate on Proverbs 12:24NLT ‘
« Work hard and become a leader; be lazy and become a slave »
Read Acts 28:1-6NLT
1 Once we were safe on shore, we learned that we were on the island of Malta.
2 The people of the island were very kind to us. It was cold and rainy, so they built a fire on the shore to welcome us.
3 As Paul gathered an armful of sticks and was laying them on the fire, a poisonous snake, driven out by the heat, bit him on the hand.
4 The people of the island saw it hanging from his hand and said to each other, “A murderer, no doubt! Though he escaped the sea, justice will not permit him to live.”
5 But Paul shook off the snake into the fire and was unharmed.
6 The people waited for him to swell up or suddenly drop dead. But when they had waited a long time and saw that he wasn’t harmed, they changed their minds and decided he was a god.
When I realised that if God hadn’t found me, I would have remained as a university lecturer heading towards hell,
I made up my mind not to be an ordinary Christian.
A mathematician who doesn’t want to be ordinary will study those who excelled and reached the top, like Pythagoras and other great mathematicians.
- As I didn’t want to be an ordinary Christian, I spent three years studying some people who God used mightily.
One of such was Elijah.
If you have listened to my series of sermons titled ‘Going Higher’ (they can be found on Dove TV’s YouTube channel) you will know that I have spent a lot of time studying Elijah.
I also studied Paul because he was an academic, a professor of law that went into ministry like me and ended well.
I found out that according to 2 Timothy 4:6-8, he was a diligent man.
- Paul was diligent in every facet of his life.
In Acts 28:1-6, when there was a shipwreck on the Island of Malta, while everyone was gathered around the fire because of the cold,
it was Paul who went out to fetch firewood.
In the earlier days, during the RCCG conventions, my boys and I used to fetch firewood for the conventions. We also washed plates and did other menial work with joy. Whenever it was time to wash plates and anyone wanted to collect the sponge from me, I would tell them, “Wash your own portion of plates, let me wash mine.”
The hands that cannot do manual labour for the kingdom cannot heal the sick.
When a programme is going on in your church, do not shy away from doing menial work.
- Get your hands dirty, and you will be amazed how the anointing will begin to surge through your fingers.
Many of the Assistant General Overseers in RCCG now were my boys in those days. This is because it is those you knew to be diligent when you were starting out that you can trust to remain diligent when you are successful.
I have seen people advise that there are lots of people with great callings these days.
They may have a calling, but have they been tested ?
- Your calling is never enough to succeed.
Can we put you in charge of something and go to sleep knowing that you will do the work as it should be done ?
Only those who are diligent can make full proof of their calling.
Application – A calling without diligence will yield no success.
Author – Bishop Enoch Adejare Adeboye; General Overseer of the RCCG
Posted by Naomie Joseph
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