Unemployment and poverty are some of the reasons people give for engaging in acts of stealing and fraudulent practices involving obtaining through false pretenses. However, such people are not being sincere with themselves or with God. There is only one legitimate cure for lack, and its name is hard work. When people say there are no employment opportunities, I beg to differ. What people refer to as unemployment is the lack of the type of job they want. Such people fail to diversify the scope of labour they are willing to engage in, and so they keep looking for white collar jobs when there are other available jobs that can provide for their needs. Unfortunately, they consider such jobs to be beneath their status as graduates or professionals and hence choose to remain unemployed. Genesis 26:12-14 records how Isaac worked hard by sowing in a time of famine, notwithstanding the abundant blessings that were his by covenant! Those who steal to survive should learn from his example that there is an acceptable alternative to stealing, which is hard work centred on God. Furthermore, in Ephesians 4:28, the Holy Spirit expressly commands those who steal under the excuse of poverty and joblessness to find something good to do so that they can even have more than enough to give to others.

The story of Obalola serves to illustrate today’s topic (There Is An Alternative). One day, he and his friend went to the seer to know what the future had in store for them. To Obalola, the seer said, “You will be king, if…”, but before the seer could finish, Obalola jumped up in excitement and sprinted away. In Obalola’s absence, the seer proceeded to deliver a prophecy to his friend. He had just begun, saying “You will die poor, unless….”, when Obalola’s friend also stormed off, annoyed at what he was hearing. Having heard from the seer, Obalola began to play around, boasting that he would be king someday. His friend on the other hand decided that he would not die poor. This man went into the jungle with his farming implements and started farming. He worked the jungle until he turned it into a pleasant farm with crops being taken to the town for good money. In the course of time, the king of the town died and there was a famine in the land. Obalola’s friend with his great farm was the only source of survival for the town. Desperate for survival, the town’s people came to him and begged him to become their king. Meanwhile, Obalola had wasted his life boasting and waiting to become king; he died a pauper. Beloved, laziness in any form is not a Christian virtue. It makes people vulnerable to poverty, and poverty leads to desperate acts which erode integrity (Proverbs 24:30-34, Proverbs 30:7-9).
Written by Pastor E.A. Adeboye.