Written by Uyoyou Christiana Charles-Iyoha
Then Moses said to the
Israelites, “See, the Lord has chosen Bezalel son of Uri, the son of Hur, of
the tribe of Judah, and he has filled him with the Spirit of God, with wisdom,
with understanding, with knowledge and with all kinds of skills—to make
artistic designs for work in gold, silver and bronze, to cut and set stones, to
work in wood and to engage in all kinds of artistic crafts. And he has given both him and Oholiab son of
Ahisamak, of the tribe of Dan, the ability to teach others. He has filled them with skill to do all kinds
of work as engravers, designers, embroiderers in blue, purple and scarlet yarn
and fine linen, and weavers—all of them skilled workers and designers. Exodus
Chapter 35 verses 30 to 35.
You can and should invest in people by training them.
Nebuchadnezzar invested in the members of his court by
ensuring that quality young men were always sought for and trained for three
years before graduating them into the inner realms of the court. That way,
Nebuchadnezzar always had a pool of competent leaders who assisted in the day
to day affairs of his expansive kingdom. Significantly, the training was
designed to prepare them for leadership roles as well as advisory roles to King
Nebuchadnezzar in the day to day running of affairs in the kingdom of Babylon.
Quite significant and instructive is the fact that graduation from the training
did not automatically place the newly trained leaders in the inner realms of
the court. They were further subjected to rigorous interviews by the King.
Their performance at the interviews determined whether they were brought into
the direct service of the King or not.
Daniel and his friends passed the interview and were instantly recruited
into the direct service of the King. Please see Daniel Chapter 1. Those who did
not pass were probably subjected to further training in the outer court so that
they would be given greater responsibilities upon graduating.
It is pertinent to note that King Nebuchadnezzar, like many
other Kings of his days and even contemporary leaders in diverse fields today
did not and do not spend great sums of money for the sake of spending money on
training just so they could be seen to be training people. It was for the
purpose of raising and growing leaders who would in turn raise and grow other
leaders. Investing in people through training was and is for the purpose of
developing human capital, a key resource for sustainable economic growth and
general development.
