Deut.8v18: And you shall remember the Lord your God, for it is He who gives you power to get wealth, that He may establish His covenant which He swore to your fathers, as it is this day.

Dearly beloved, I believe that you have been gaining wisdom and insight from this series of teachings about economic empowerment. Yes, it’s vitally important for you and me to be economically empowered. This is God’s will for you as revealed in (Deut.8v18). God wants you to be economically empowered. This is why these series of messages are coming your way. However, becoming economically empowered will not just happen overnight; it will happen as a result of engaging certain principles and these are the principles that we have been looking at. These principles are part of secrets that you and I need to discover and tap into if we will be financially free and so far, I have shared four of those secrets with you. Today, my discussion will focus on another powerful key that will usher you into your financial heritage, so without wasting much time, I would like us to examine this powerful tool right away.

HOW TO PROSPER ECONOMICALLY

5. Manage your time very well (Pro.6v6-8). I want you to know that activities are not the same thing as accomplishment or productivity. The fact that you are running from pillar to post does not translate to results. Money is a function of time that is why people are paid per hour in some countries of the world and by the way. Time is money; time is also a priceless commodity and one of the most precious resources that God has given you. So how you use your time will determine whether you’ll be economically empowered or not. The management of time has cost us billions of naira; that is why you need to value your time. Yesterday is history. Tomorrow is a mystery. Today is a gift; that is why it is called the present. This is why you need to handle your time wisely. What do you do with your spare time, assuming you work eight hours per day? What do you do with the remaining sixteen hours? According to a statistic that I saw some years ago, if you sleep eight hours every day and live to be 75 years old, you would have spent  1/3 of your life unconscious? Do you know that time is usually wasted in the same way every day? This is why you need to maximise your time. If it takes eight hours a day to make a living, it will take more than eight hours to make a life. Working forty hours per week is just for survival; you are getting ready for success when you work over forty hours. According to statistics that I saw some years ago, self-made millionaires work an average of fifty-nine hours per week. In fact, in the beginning, they work between seventy to eighty hours, that is, per week. So it is important for you and me to pay attention to how we use our time. How you use your time will determine whether you will be financially free or not. One thing I’ve discovered about developed countries is that they have high regard for time. Sadly, it is in African countries that we talk about African time, but time is time. This is why you need to value your time and use it very wisely if you will break even in your life.

My dear brothers and sisters, how can you get more out of your time. I believe it is when you pay attention to the kind of things you put your time and energy into. A wise man once said do less better instead of trying to do it all. So how should you use your time and energy?

• Use your time or invest your time into the things that are really important. For example, your vision, dreams, purpose, goals and aspirations in life.
• Invest your time into the things that brings the highest possible returns. Don’t just use your time anyhow (1Cor.6v12).
• Invest your time into your highest priorities. You know that everything is not important. You need to separate urgent things from important things if you are going to make something productive out of your time and energy.

My dear reader, do you know that how you work will determine whether you’ll be financially free or not. So how should you go about the business of work? I believe if you are economically empowered, you need to work in the following manner:

• You need to work very hard. There is no substitute for hard work. So bend down and work (1Cor.15v10).
• You need to work very well. Make sure you put your heart and your soul into your work. Enjoy your work. If you are going to be somewhere, make sure you are there with all your heart. This is very important if you will reap the dividends of work in your life (Eccle.3v1).
• You need to work early. Punctuality is the soul of business. Whatever is worth doing is worth doing on time. So don’t postpone or procrastinate. Cultivate the habit of doing your work on time. This will help you to break forth financially (Eccle.11v4).
• Work longer. What do I mean by this, learn to persevere in your work? Become someone that finishes and accomplishes their tasks, Don’t be a quitter. Quitters never win, and winners never quit. So develop the capacity to persevere in whatsoever work you are doing.
• Work smartly. Yes, what do I mean by this? You need to leverage tools and resources that can help you to deliver results on a faster note. Thank God for technology, this is one of the advantages of technology, and you need to look for ways of imbibing this principle into whatever you do so that you can get better results.

Other Scriptural References: (Prov.10v4: 13v4: 12v24: 22v29; Eph.5v16; Col.4v5).

Prayer for Today: Oh Lord, help me to maximise my time so that I can enter into my financial heritage in the name of Jesus.

CONFESSION: I choose to be a wise manager of my time. I invest my time wisely and I do not use my time anyhow. I put a high premium on what I use my time for. My time is precious; therefore, I invest my time into the things that are important to me and the things that bring the highest possible returns. I do not just beat about the bush. I focus on the things that are in line with my purpose and destiny. I do not waste time, but I invest my time wisely as I make good use of my time. I am breaking forth into my financial heritage and blessings. I am a good user of time, and by the grace of God, I will enter into my season of economic empowerment in Jesus name.

Pastor Yemi Adeoti

Yemi Adeoti is a pastor, teacher, life coach and mentor & also a prolific writer.