45-A-Step-Of-Faith-Apprenticeship

Apprenticeship is important for those taking a step of faith in a new venture. Learning from successful people who have already achieved what you want to do is valuable. Having a mentor helps you learn what to do and what not to do. The real world is different from theory, so being prepared is crucial. Going through an apprenticeship program or having mentorship improves success. In the Bible, Ephraim is described as a cake not torn, meaning partially burnt and partly raw, showing the vulnerability of not being fully prepared. Being mentored before stepping out is important. Hello and welcome to join this chariot for a 5 minute Bible study. This episode 45 on A Step of Faith is titled Apprenticeship. My name is Greg Alabi and I'm inviting you to come let us study the Bible together. The Webster Dictionary defines apprenticeship as an arrangement in which someone learns an art, trade or job under another person. Apprenticeship is like internship, practicum or training. An apprentice is a person who is learning a trade from a skilled employer having agreed to work for a fixed period at low wages. The Webster Dictionary says he is a person who works for another in order to learn a trade. Dear friends, I strongly recommend that if you intend to take a step of faith to accomplish a worthwhile venture, it may be a good idea to understudy some people who have either successfully achieved what you are about to start off or who are currently doing well in what you intend to get into. You can still stay under tutelage, under a mentor, preferably a mentor who himself or herself was also mentored by another person. The real world out there is not the same as the theory class. Some people with some of the best ideas end up having difficulties in the real world because they were not fully prepared for the challenges ahead. Some of the good things about spending quality time to learn and study under a mentor is that you get to know what to do and what not to do. You get to add what your mentor knows to what you already know. Your mentor does not have to do what we want all the time. Even when they seemingly make life difficult for us, that difficult experience is building character in us, teaching us how not to treat people and how to better respond under unpleasant experiences because the real world out there, even your subordinates, your contemporaries, your superiors and even third parties will at some point put us in difficult situations. Talented, smart and gifted people who went through a mentorship program and continue to be under supervision, when they start off, they tend to do better than those who did not go through the same apprenticeship program. I have noticed that the best of sportsmen have their coaches and trainers. The best artists and performers have managers and trainers. When a talented person meets a good coach, his career improves drastically. Mentors and coaches, at the very least, know two things, what not to do and the direction you should go. Previous mistakes might have stopped them from developing their own career path but that is now equipping them to teach others what not to do and the direction to go in order to be successful. My advice, if you want to take a step of faith, rather understudy, study under another person until he or she is comfortable to let you get started while he continues to keep an eye on you. Yes, until he is comfortable to let you get started because as an observer, he can tell when you are ripe, ready and well cooked, prepared for the real world. One of the risks associated with going too early and not going through an apprenticeship program or lack of mentorship is that despite our fantastic ideas and great potentials for success, we stand the risk of being half-baked and not fully prepared before taking a step of faith to accomplish anything significant. Now let us glance on valuable lessons from Hosea chapter 7 verse 8 to 9 in the Bible. It describes Ephraim, one of the tribes in Israel and the son of Jacob, is described here as a cake not torn, meaning partially burnt and partly raw. He then became very vulnerable to others to take advantage of him and he did not realize he was getting older by the day, all because he seemed like in verse 7 he kept mingling, he kept interacting with the wrong crowd. In the next episode, we will learn some valuable lessons on the importance and the benefits of being mentored, especially before we step out. Let us pray. Father, we thank you for these great ideas you put in our hearts. Lead us to people who will mentor us and show us what to do and how best to do it. In Jesus' name, Amen. I invite you to please visit our website, gregorlabee.com. Look for the podcast. You will find present and past messages there. God bless you.