Date: Thursday, 18th April, 2024
Text: Proverbs 12:17
Author: Pastor Adedeji Fadehan
Exhortation:
The founder of a successful company was getting older and weaker. He came to the realization that he needed a successor CEO to keep the company going. But he had a trust concern. He figured it out that the successor must be an honest and trustworthy fellow, so he came up with a simple test.
He called all his employees together announcing his retirement plans. He informed them of his search for a new leader and that the one who passes his test would emerge the new company head. He gave them seeds to tend and nurture. They were to grow them in pots and report progress every month, for the next one year. The person with the best result would emerge the new CEO.
They all got back home and planted the seeds in pots and after a month they started reporting their progresses. Each came with well watered pots having beautifully growing plants. However, one of them could not achieve the kind of results others had because his own seeds refused to germinate. He tried all he could; added fertilizer, wetted it regularly but all to no avail. He felt ashamed of his poor results whenever the others reported their progresses. This went on for about a year.
At the end of the year, the old founder was now ready to announce the winner of the seed growth contest. They all came with their well grown plants awaiting positive rewards; the other guy with the empty pot also came already feeling defeated. But they were shocked when the old founder announced the guy with the empty pot as the new CEO.
The founder revealed that the seeds he gave them were dead seeds. They had been boiled and dried , so there was no way they would have grown under any circumstances. The other employees had gone to buy and plant new seeds when they realized that the seeds they were given were not growing. They failed the simple test of honesty woefully.
Theword of God says, “He that speaketh truth sheweth forth righteousness: but a false witness deceit”- Proverbs 12:17. Again, it says, “Righteousness exalts a nation, but sin is a reproach to a people”. Proverbs 14:34.
Prayer Nugget: I repent from any dishonest act and ask for the grace to be honest always in Jesus name.