No purpose has a future without skill. Many of us have discovered our purpose, but we are not equipped to deliver it. No matter how great your calling, no matter how genuine your pursuit, your purpose will never be accomplished without skill. To every trade there is a required skill. The quality of your skill is what determines the quality of your out-put. (Proverbs 22:29)

Unfortunately, skill is one of the most neglected aspect of Christian teachings today. This has pushed so many backward and many are constantly looking around for a devil to blame for their failure, instead of looking inward to find out where they are lacking in experience. A person that is not skilled in his job, no matter how hard he prays, cannot expect to enjoy promotions. Only experts excel, and expertise is a product of training and personal development.

Skill is not a function of the papers you carry; it is a function of the tactics you employ, the strategies you engage in handling your assignment. Mere certificates hold little or no value in the market today, it is what you can do that sells.

Knowledge is not marketable; it is skill that we market. A Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science does not give you a job; it is your expertise on the system that does.

Oprah Winfrey said, « Excellence is the greatest deterrent against racism and sexism.” 

Man or woman, black or white, just have the quality, and people will be there to buy your product. Have what they need, and they will be there running after you.

Training, whether formal or informal, is a device through which skill is acquired. If what you are using are tricks, you may soon be trapped, but if you are engaging skills you will remain in command. No matter where you are, skill will announce you. This was how David the shepherd boy got to the palace.

Later on, a crop of battered and beaten people gathered themselves unto David, and he became a captain over them. Later on, when God began to list the mighty men of valour around David, the same worthless people had become the mighty men of David.

There are five biblical illustrations that help us see the need for skill in the pursuit of our purpose. The Bible likens our destiny in life to that of a builder, a farmer, a soldier, a sportsman, and a trader.

AS A BUILDER

Paul said, “As a wise master builder, I have laid the foundation, and another buildeth thereon. But let every man take heed of how he buildeth thereupon.”s Every pursuit in destiny is like putting up a structure, and we all know that the beauty of your building is a function of your expertise.

Jesus again said, “For which of you, intending to build a tower, sitteth not down first, and counteth the cost, whether he have sufficient to finish it? Lest haply, after he hath laid the foundation, and is not able to finish it, all that behold it begin to mock him. “

The building of every tower demands high level skills, else it will end up as an object of mockery. So, is it with the journey of life.

AS A FARMER

God speaking again through Paul said the husbandman that labours must be the first partaker of the fruits. Those pursuing divine purpose can be likened to farmers, and a lot of skill is required in farming.

There is a time to sow and a time to apply your fertilizer and so on and so forth. It is your expertise that determines the quality of harvest you get. Every “common sense” farmer would only get “common sense” results. It takes special sense to get a special harvest.

AS A SOLDIER

The pursuit of divine purpose is also likened to a career in the army on the battle-field: “Thou therefore endure hardness, as a good soldier of Jesus Christ. No man that warreth entangleth himself with the affairs of this life; that he may please him who hath chosen him to be a soldier. ” 2 Timothy 2 : 3-4

In the military, skill is the thing. The world is no more threatened by the size of your army, but by its skill. Therefore, if we are soldiers, we need skills, so we don’t get killed in the war front.

AS A SPORTSMAN

We are also called sportsmen – athletes, boxers, wrestlers and so on and so forth. Paul said, 

“Know ye not that they which run in a race run all, but one receiveth the prize? So run, that ye may obtain. And every man that striveth for the mastery is temperate in all things. Now they do it to obtain a corruptible crown; but we an in-corruptible. I therefore so run, not as one that beateth the air: ” 1 Corinthians 9 : 24-26

You don’t go to the wrestling ring just because you are called a wrestler in your village. For instance, you may be a good footballer in your neighbourhood, but you will need a coach to refine your gift before playing in the World Cup league.

Every professional sportsman has a coach, who is heavily paid to enhance his training for expertise in his chosen sport.

AS A TRADER

Finally, people pursuing purpose are also likened to traders multiplying their capital for profit. Matthew 25:14-16 says, 

“For the kingdom of heaven is as a man travelling into a far country, who called his own servants, and delivered unto them his goods. And unto one he gave five talents, to another two, and to another one; to every man according to his several ability; and straightway took his journey. Then he that had received the five talents went and traded with the same, and made them other five talents.“

If we are traders, then we don’t only look for capital, but must first of all acquire the necessary skill for the trade we want to get into, otherwise the capital will be gone in no time. Money without financial literacy, someone says, is money soon gone. So, it is not just capital you need to become a successful trader, you also need necessary skills in the specific area of trade you in tend going into.

Skills have to be consciously acquired, either formally or informally. When you leave your lite to chance, you don’t have a chance. When you start praying, “Oh God, bless this business,” God says to you, “Oh boy, do you have the necessary skill?” 

Time spent in acquiring skill is not time wasted; it is time profitably invested. Nothing happens by chance. You cannot accomplish your purpose without first engaging in the travail of training.

Jesus called the 12 disciples, and they were under His tutelage for three and a half years. Discipleship implies apprenticeship. He was training them to take over…

This text is an extract from the book “RULING YOUR WORLD” written by David O. Oyedepo. 
We invite you to read the following article “THE COST OF CHANGE“.