About My Father's Business and Finding Your Assignment

My mother was a single mom who did the best she could with what she had. And one day, after a particularly rough progress report, she grabbed me by the collar, looked me dead in my face, and said in her Jamaican accent, "Boy, you better buckle down."

That's where we're starting today. If you want something different, you're going to have to do something different. It's time to get down to business.

Jesus Was 12

Luke 2:41-49. Jesus' parents brought Him to Jerusalem for the Passover feast. He was 12. On the way home, they realized He wasn't with them. They spent three days searching before they found Him sitting in the temple with the teachers, listening and asking questions. Everyone was amazed at His understanding.

His mother said, "Son, why have you done this to us? Your father and I have been looking for you anxiously."

And Jesus responded with the first words He ever spoke that are recorded in Scripture: "Why did you seek me? Did you not know that I must be about my Father's business?"

At 12, Jesus already knew His purpose. He was already tapping into what He was called to do. Now, the Bible says after this moment He went home and submitted to His parents for 18 more years. He didn't start His ministry until He was 30. Which means just because your gift shows up in one season doesn't mean it's time to use it in that season. Sometimes God reveals who you are and then puts you in an incubator to develop before He releases you.

The Bible Is a Business Plan

Let me show you something you may have never noticed.

1 Thessalonians 4:11-12 says, "Make it your goal to live a quiet life, minding your own business, and working with your hands, just as we instructed you before. Then people who are not believers will respect the way you live, and you will not need to depend on others."

Paul connects minding your business with working with your hands and not depending on others. That's not just a spiritual instruction. It's a financial one.

Jesus was a carpenter. He worked with His hands. He had His own business. The disciples were fishermen. They owned their boats. Luke was a doctor. Paul was a tentmaker. These weren't people sitting around waiting for handouts. They were skilled workers and business owners who funded their ministry through their work.

Luke 19:13, Jesus told His servants, "Do business till I come." That's a direct command. Handle what you've been given. Steward what's in your hands. Multiply it.

Alignment Before Assignment

1 John 3:10 says, "By this the children of God and the children of the devil are clearly identified: anyone who does not practice righteousness is not of God."

That word righteousness means right position. It means alignment. When you're in alignment, God gives you your assignment. When you're out of alignment, don't expect direction. Why would God give you a new plan when you haven't followed the last one?

Think about a car that's out of alignment. You're holding the steering wheel straight, but the car is drifting left. You think you're going in the right direction, but you're not. Your life works the same way. You can't receive your assignment if your alignment is off.

I tell people all the time: you cannot receive assignment if you are not in alignment. Get your priorities right. Get your relationships right. Get your finances right. Get your habits right. Then watch what God starts to download.

The Original Business Plan

Genesis 1:26-28 is the original operating manual. God said, "Let them have complete authority over the fish of the sea, the birds of the air, the cattle, over the entire earth, and over everything that creeps and crawls on the earth."

Then verse 28: "Be fruitful, multiply, fill the earth, and subdue it."

That's not just a command about having children. It's a command about production. God is a creator. He's creative. And He made you in His image, which means you are built to create, to be creative, and to produce. The question is: what can you create that you can duplicate and take to market?

If God had your assignment for someone else, He wouldn't have given it to you. He put something specific on the inside of you. And He's going to come back and ask what you did with it. You can't stand before God with the same seed He gave you and nothing to show for it. The parable of the talents calls that wicked and lazy.

God never put seeds in the Garden of Eden. He put fruit. Adam and Eve had to take the seeds out to multiply. You have fruit in your life right now, and inside that fruit are seeds. What are you doing with them?

Five Steps to Get Down to Business

Let me walk you through the framework God gave me.

One, make it a priority. Matthew 22:37-38 says to love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, and mind. He is Lord of your time, your talent, and your treasure. Your decisions go through Him first. Here's the reality: if your life is out of order, God can't bless it. Every now and then you put your money into the vending machine, press the button, and the item gets stuck halfway. You start rocking the machine trying to shake it loose. Then you look at the side and see the words "out of order." Some of you keep putting effort into a life that's out of order and wondering why nothing drops. Put Him first.

Two, pursue it. That word "seek" in Matthew 6:33 also means go after it. The kingdom isn't passive. The Bible says the righteous take it by force. 2 Timothy 2:22 says, "Run from anything that stimulates youthful lust. Instead, pursue righteous living, faithfulness, love, and peace." Notice how everything is active. You're running from some things and running toward others. You don't passively stumble into purpose.

Three, pray for it. The Lord's Prayer says, "Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven." That means you're supposed to be experiencing some heaven while you're here on earth. If your life doesn't reflect any of that, you need to analyze what part of the process you've skipped. Prayer isn't just asking for things. It's aligning yourself with what God has already set up.

Four, practice it. Philippians 4:9 says, "The things which you have learned, received, heard, and seen in me, practice these things." Success isn't built in a day. It's built in daily decisions. Good days lead to good weeks. Good weeks lead to good months. Good months lead to good quarters. Good quarters lead to a good life. If you want a great life, fix what you do daily. You don't need to overhaul everything at once. Just do something right consistently.

Five, profess it. Acts 17:7 describes the early believers as people who "profess allegiance to another king named Jesus." What are you speaking over your life? What are you declaring? Your words matter. Stop canceling what you want with your mouth. If you keep saying "I'll never be able to afford that" or "I could never do that," you're eating the harvest of your own words. Proverbs 18:21 says death and life are in the power of the tongue.

Create, Duplicate, Dominate

Here's the formula God put on my heart. You find fulfillment in three things.

Creativity. Since God is a creator, you will never feel fully alive unless you're creating something. Some of you come alive when you cook. Some when you design. Some when you write or build or organize. That's God's image in you expressing itself. And you'd do it for free because it feels like breathing.

Connectivity. You can't find fulfillment in isolation. We are built to need each other. That's why babies have to be connected to someone from the moment they're born.

Contribution. The Bible says it's more blessed to give than receive. But it's hard to give when you have nothing. When you create and duplicate, you build surplus. And from surplus, you contribute. That's when you know you're in the right lane.

So here's your homework. Go home and do a brain dump. Write down everything you're good at. Then next to each one, write down whether it can generate income. You might be talented at something that doesn't pay, and that's fine. But somewhere in your list is a gift that can create, duplicate, and generate. And one more thing: you better figure out what AI can't replace. Because the machines are coming, and if your only skill can be automated, you need a new plan.

Psalm 8:5 says, "Yet you have made them only a little lower than God, and have crowned them with glory and honor."

You've got a crown on your head. Act like it. God made you to run things, not to be run over by things. Create. Duplicate. Dominate. That's the Bible.