One of the biggest telecommunications company in Nigeria came out with an advertisement with a question and answer jingle. The question goes, ‘Who rules your world?’ The answer comes with strong affirmation, ‘I rule!’ The emphasis in the advertisement is a call for the viewer to take charge and rule his world. In fact the bye-line of the advertisement is, ‘Rule Your World’.

The message in the advertisement sounds good but is it right? I am sure it could cause a debate if thrown open for discussion. However there are some lessons we can learn from this and that is the focus of this write-up.



In Gen 1:26, God said, ‘And God said, let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; and let them rule over the fish of the sea, and over the birds of the heavens, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over all the creepers creeping on the earth’.

God’s intention at creation was for man to rule over the rest of creation. Man was supposed to take care of the earth and ensure that everything conforms with God’s will. But, as we all know, man fell to the deception of  Satan and lost the power of dominion to Satan. For a long time, man became a slave to sin until Jesus came into the picture. His purpose was to redeem man and restore man back to the place of authority he once enjoyed under God.

Does this therefore mean that man has the capacity to rule his world as depicted in that advertisement? I dare say  'No'. The picture painted in that advert is that of a man who depends on no one but takes complete charge of all he does. He reports to no one, he is answerable to nobody and he does anything he likes when he wants to do it. This is the gospel of self. Unfortunately, this kind of teaching is creeping into the church. We emphasize more on self than on service. Everyone wants to be a millionaire, even those who can’t manage a hundred dollars.

In Luke 12:16, there was a man who thought he could rule his world. His business was booming. He had so much harvest that year and faced the challenge of storage. The man never thought of anyone else. He never thought of giving to others in need. He thought only about himself. “This is what I will do, I will pull down my barns and build a bigger barn so that I will have more room to store my fruits and goods. I will then tell myself, you have stored enough good things for years to come. Live it up! East, drink and enjoy yourself!” (Paraphrase mine)

Here was a man who lived for himself. He ruled his world and had no thought for others. He thought of tomorrow only in relation to himself. It was all about him. God had a surprise waiting for the man.

‘You fool! Tonight you will die. The who will get what you have stored up?’  (Luke 12:20) I am not sure the rich man had a family. If he did, he didn’t care about them. All his plans were centered around him.

This is what I thought of when I watched that advertisement. The message was clear. ‘Do you thing no matter what anybody says. Take charge of your life and live it up!

Although God gave us dominion over the rest of creation, we as his creation, are subject to him. This is why Paul says, ‘In Him we live, move and have our being..’ (Acts 17:28)

We are only sure of the moment we are in now but God is the one in charge of tomorrow.

God rules over all things but desires to rule and reign through us. We rule not by ourselves or for ourselves, rather, we rule under God to establish His will on earth.


Steve Popoola is the editor of Biblepraise Newsletter and the webmaster of Biblepraise Fellowship Online at http://www.biblepraise.org . British by birth, He currently resides in Lagos , Nigeria with wife Maris and their children; Praise, Stephanie and Precious. He works as an IT professional in a bank. He presently serves as Church Secretary  and Head of Music Ministry in his local church. He is the Moderator/Editor of Biblepraise Newsletter. He can be reached through His email address, steve@biblepraise.org