ISN'T THIS THE CARPENTER?
There’s a very intriguing passage of the Bible I’d love to share, because it drives home a lot of lessons. It’s the book of Mark 6:1–3
Apologies to those do not belong to the Christian faith, but you’d soon find out that it’s actually more than a religious setting.
Now here’s how the New International Version narrates it :
1. Jesus left there and went to his hometown, accompanied by his disciples.
2. When the Sabbath came, he began to teach in the synagogue, and many who heard him were amazed. “Where did this man get these things?” they asked. “What’s this wisdom that has been given him? What are these remarkable miracles he is performing?
3. Isn’t this the carpenter? Isn’t this Mary’s son and the brother of James, Joseph, Judas and Simon? Aren’t his sisters here with us?” And they took offense at him.
Notice how the passage explains that Jesus went to his hometown in a bid to explain the things of God to them, and because of his wisdom, they picked offense against him.
I mean these were his people, you’d expect that they would accept him with open arms, because he was part of them and they should have been proud of that fact.
But what did they do instead, they showed contempt against him. And they used a rather disdainful phrase ; “isn’t this the carpenter?”, in an attempt to commonize him and make him feel undeserving of his wisdom.
Why? Because they knew his past.
You might be wondering what the point of this story is, and why does it concern you.
But here’s a truth:
In your journey to self discovery and purpose, people who used to know you, people who used to be in the safe pity circle with you, people who will rather fold their hands and blame everyone else for their misery will scorn at you.
The will also ask you the same question, “isn’t this the carpenter”, meaning isn’t the same guy we used to roll with, so now he’s trying to play god now?
They will do all of these things so they can kill your dreams and weigh down your drive, but remember, this isn’t about them.
Remember that this is your life, and this is how you chose to live it. Remember that instead of leaving your life in the hands of fate, you chose to live it.
You need to be focused on your journey and play deaf to all the noises.
Yes, you might be a carpenter now, you might not have it all figured out yet. But remember also that the carpenter today can own a multinational tomorrow.
And the carpenter today, might win the multimillionaire contract. He can build the company with 36 branches all over the world, if he perseveres.
Remember most importantly that what a carpenter does is build.
So build capacity.
Build tenacity and resilience.
Build your mind.
Devote to personal development, and one day, the narrative will change.
People will tend to judge you by the mistakes of your past, but reaffirm everyday that;
“I am the master of my fate, the captain of my soul” — William Ernest Henley.
You can follow me on Twitter if you’re interested in reading more of my writings @kayodedigital
I’d love to hear from you.
