Series: Youth for Jesus
Number: Vol. 9, No. 18
“The men in charge of the work were diligent, and the repairs progressed under them. They rebuilt the temple of God according to its original design and reinforced it. When they had finished, they brought the rest of the money to the king and Jehoiada, and with it were made articles for the LORD’s temple: articles for the service and for the burnt offerings, and also dishes and other objects of gold and silver. As long as Jehoiada lived, burnt offerings were presented continually in the temple of the LORD.” (2 Chron 24:13-14NIV)
Who were the men being referred to in our opening text? They were the men that handled the repair of the temple of God during the reign of King Joash and under the leadership of Jehoiada the priest.
Now what are the key things said about these men in the text? The first is that they handled the work given to them diligently. Therefore, the repairs being done progressed under them. In other words, King Joash, Jehoiada the priest and the rest of the people of the land could see value for the money that they gave for the repair of the temple. And that was because of the diligence of the people the work was entrusted to.
What this, of course, is showing us is that if we want anything entrusted to us, whether it is spiritual or material, to experience real and visible progress, we must handle it with diligence. And we will handle it with diligence, if we desire to see the progress and success of whatever is committed to our trust.
Unfortunately, many people today, including God’s children, most times care only about what they will gain from whatever task that is given to them; they hardly care about the success or progress of the task itself. And that is nothing but selfishness, a kind that closes doors of favour against people. If you, then, don’t want doors of favour to be closing against you, don’t just be concerned about the profit or prestige you will make from the jobs or tasks given to you; always be concerned about their success or progress as well.
The second thing said about the men in our opening text is that they were honest and accountable. As the text shows, when they were done with the repairs done on the temple, they returned the money that was left to the king and Jehoiada. Why? They had already received their own wages for the job they did. So, it was only right for them to account for what they spent on repairing the temple and to also return what was not spent in doing the job.
More so, the temple they worked on was their own place of worship too. And if they could not repair it free of charge, the least they could do was to handle whatever money or materials given to them with utmost carefulness and honesty. That way, if anything was not used or spent, it could be used to take care of other matters in the temple, which was exactly what happened. The money they returned was used by the king and the chief priest to provide a number of articles of gold and silver needed for worship in the temple. And what they did will always be on record about them till Jesus will come.
Now will it be on record about you and me that we too are honest and accountable in handling whatever is entrusted to us by others? And this does not have to do with what is entrusted to us in our churches alone but also with whatever is entrusted to us by others in our workplaces, schools, families, societies or neighbourhoods. Will it be on record among those we are dealing with that we are honest and accountable?
It is a pity that even when some of us are handling tasks that we too are ultimately going to benefit from, we will still act dishonest. We will still be considering how we can make outrageous profits. And what do you think will happen when what we are up to is discovered? It will be put on record that we are dishonest and unreliable. Only God, then, will be able to tell the degree to which that will affect our personal progress and peace of mind in life.
In any case, the point of it all is that in handling whatever task that is entrusted to us, we should exhibit diligence, honesty and accountability that will bless the task in our hands. If we do so, it will be on record for others to read, say or hear about us. And who knows where God will use that to open doors of favour for us here on earth?
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