BE PRODUCTIVE

Late last year—specifically in October—I received a word from the Lord regarding the direction for our church this year. This is the second time I’ve received the word for the year in October. The word for this year is “be productive,” and the main scripture is:

2 Peter 1:8 (NLT)
 8 The more you grow like this, the more productive and useful you will be in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.

For proper context, one should read the entire passage from verse 1 to verse 11.

So, what does it mean to be productive? Productivity is an overarching command throughout the Bible, from Genesis to the New Testament; it is a kingdom mandate for every believer. Other words associated with this concept include fruitfulness, multiplication, increase, progress, prosperity, abundance, or abundant life.

In the beginning, when God created Adam and Eve, He “blessed them and said, ‘Be fruitful and multiply. Fill the earth and govern it. Reign over the fish in the sea, the birds in the sky, and all the animals that scurry along the ground.’” (1:28, NLT). The earth was unpopulated, untilled, and “empty,” and God wanted Adam and Eve to fill the earth and govern or rule it (have dominion) on His behalf. However, humanity failed and sinned, leading God to destroy the earth through the flood during Noah’s time. Nevertheless, He preserved Noah, a righteous man, along with his family and other creatures. When the floods were over, God recommissioned Noah with the same original plan and purpose: “Then God blessed Noah and his sons and told them, ‘Be fruitful and multiply. Fill the earth’” (Genesis 9:1, NLT).

Years later, humanity again got into trouble with God, this time by seeking to achieve and excel without Him—what it means to be secular in absolute terms—by building the Tower of Babel, a monument to worldly ambition and achievement without God. This act displeased God, and He confused human beings by confounding their language (Genesis 11:7). Amid this sinful and godless environment, there were still people who feared God. It was in this context that He found a righteous man willing to follow Him: Abram. God blessed Abram because he obeyed, saying, “Leave your native country, your relatives, and your father’s family, and go to the land that I will show you. 2 I will make you into a great nation. I will bless you and make you famous, and you will be a blessing to others. 3 I will bless those who bless you and curse those who treat you with contempt. All the families on earth will be blessed through you.” (Genesis 12:1-3). Abram, later Abraham, found favor with God and bore a son in his old age, through whom the lineage of generational blessing would be passed on. In Abraham, God introduced a new concept: obeying and following God—a righteousness through faith. Through failures and testing, Abraham was found faithful and was justified through faith.

The promise to Abram would not be fulfilled in his lifetime but would be realized generations later. Once again, God reiterated the productivity promise, indicating how it would ultimately be fulfilled through a nation of God’s people, not just a family. God showed Jacob, later Israel, how the blessing and command to “be fruitful and multiply” would be fulfilled through a Saviour and connector of heaven and earth (Genesis 28:12, John 1:51), to accomplish God’s kingdom will and purpose on earth as it is in heaven. To Jacob, God said, “I am El-Shaddai—‘God Almighty.’ Be fruitful and multiply. You will become a great nation, even many nations. Kings will be among your descendants! 12 And I will give you the land I once gave to Abraham and Isaac. Yes, I will give it to you and your descendants after you.” (Genesis 35:11, 12).

The spiritual nature of the command “be fruitful and multiply,” and therefore the relevance of productivity in the Christian walk, is ultimately explained