Grasshopper no get address! 🐜😂

I hear the ant telling the grasshopper:

“I am not as big as you are. I cannot jump like you, but you don’t have a home address!”

Think about that statement for a moment.

The grasshopper is bigger than the ant. It can jump higher, travel farther, and attract attention. It moves from one place to another, seemingly enjoying life.

But the grasshopper has no address!

The ant, despite its small size, has a home. Ants have colonies. Ants have estates. They build, prepare, and establish something that belongs to them.

And that brings me to a question I want every working person, professional, entrepreneur, and minister of God to answer:

WHAT IS YOUR ADDRESS?

🏠 1. You Can Be Successful in Your Career and Still Have Nothing to Show for It

There are people who have travelled all over the world.

“When I was in Tokyo…”

“When I was posted to Singapore…”

“When I was working in Chevron…”

“When I attended that international conference…”

Wonderful experiences! But after all those years of travelling, working, and earning salaries, what have you built?

You worked in an oil company for decades, but you don’t own a petrol station, a gas filling plant, or a business.

You spent your productive years helping an organization grow, yet you never established anything that could sustain you after retirement.

Now you have retired, and you are wondering what to do next.

Your employer’s address is not your address!

Shell is not your address. Chevron is not your address. Union Bank is not your address.

These organizations have built their own identities, institutions, and assets.

What have you built?

I am not saying that everybody must own a petrol station or become a property developer. I am saying that your years of work should help you establish something valuable and sustainable beyond your monthly salary.

💼 2. Don’t Confuse Popularity With Personal Achievement

There was a time when I travelled frequently to preach.

People invited me to different places. They received me with great honour, carried me in convoys, accommodated me in expensive hotels, and provided wonderful meals.

I enjoyed the recognition.

But I eventually realized something.

After the preaching engagement, many of those people would not even call to find out whether I had arrived home safely.

They had received the service they wanted. The event was over.

That experience taught me an important lesson:

Being celebrated does not necessarily mean you are building something for yourself.

An organization can provide you with a platform, recognition, and opportunities. But you must also think about your future.

What happens when you can no longer perform the services for which people celebrate you?

What happens when the invitations stop?

What happens when your salary stops?

Your popularity must have evidence. Your expertise must produce something tangible.

Don’t spend your entire life jumping from one platform to another like a grasshopper without establishing your own address.

🐜 3. The Ant Builds While the Grasshopper Jumps

The ant does not have the physical advantages of the grasshopper.

It cannot jump as high. It cannot move as dramatically.

But it knows how to build.

This is one of the most important lessons from my book, The Philosophy of the Ant.

Life is not simply about how much you earn, how many countries you visit, or how many influential people you know.

It is about what you do with the opportunities available to you.

You may earn a modest salary, but you can still begin to save, invest, develop your skills, or establish a small business.

You may not have enough money to build a magnificent house today, but you can begin laying the foundation for tomorrow.

Start with what you have. Start where you are. Build something that can grow.

There is something within you and something within your reach that you can bring together to build a superstructure out of your life.

⏳ 4. Retirement Is Closer Than You Think

Some of you reading this believe you are still young.

You are 30, 35, or 40 years old, and you think there is plenty of time.

Let me tell you something:

Between 40 and 60 is not far. And 60 to 80 can be a very turbulent journey!

Your energy will not always remain the same.

Your ability to travel, work long hours, and generate income may change.

If you spend your productive years consuming everything you earn, what will sustain you when you can no longer work?

You cannot depend entirely on the generosity of former employers, colleagues, church members, or friends.

This is why you must begin preparing for the future while you still have the strength to do so.

🏠 Build assets.

💰 Develop savings and investments.

📚 Acquire useful knowledge.

🌱 Establish something that can grow beyond your active working years.

Don’t wait until retirement before you start preparing for retirement.

📖 5. Even Spiritual Anointing Is Not a Substitute for Preparation

In 2 Kings 4:1–7, the Bible tells us about the widow of a man who had served among the sons of the prophets.

Her husband had feared God, yet after his death, his family faced a terrible financial crisis.

His creditor was threatening to take his two sons as slaves.

The widow cried out to Elisha for help.

I often reflect on this story because it teaches us that spiritual commitment does not eliminate the need for financial responsibility.

You can work in a large ministry, serve under a great spiritual leader, and still leave your family financially vulnerable.

Your denomination is not your address.

Your ministry position is not your address.

Your anointing must have a residence. Your expertise must have evidence.

Faith and practical preparation should work together.

🏡 6. I Had to Demonstrate What I Was Teaching

My wife used to warn me about travelling around preaching wealth creation.

She would say that if people came to see me and found nothing to show for what I was teaching, they would question my message.

And something happened that confirmed her concern.

Barrister Zuka B., of blessed memory, who served as the men’s director of the Assemblies of God Church, had taken me around Nigeria to speak about wealth creation.

One day, he called me and asked where I was.

I told him I was in Nsukka.

He said he wanted to visit my home.

When he arrived, I showed him the house we were building. I also took him to see the school and other buildings we had established.

After seeing these things, he said:

“Now, I can defend you that what you preach is real.”

That encounter reinforced something I had come to understand.

Your message becomes more credible when there is evidence of what you teach.

I did not have to relocate to Lagos or America before beginning to build.

People told me that my opportunities were too great for the environment where I lived.

But I believed that if the anointing was resident there, I had to produce a residence for it.

Your environment should not become a permanent excuse for failing to develop what is within your reach.

🔑 7. What Will Be Associated With Your Name?

Let me ask you a personal question.

When people mention your name, what comes to mind?

Is it only the company where you worked?

The expensive clothes you wore?

The influential people you photographed yourself with?

The countries you visited?

Or is there something you have built, established, developed, or contributed that can be identified with you?

Those you associate with do not matter as much as what is associated with you.

You can associate with wealthy people without becoming wealthy.

You can work for a successful organization without building anything for yourself.

You can be famous without having financial security.

Your goal should be to convert your opportunities, knowledge, income, and relationships into something meaningful and lasting.

That is your address.

🚀 Conclusion: Don’t Be a Grasshopper!

I am not sharing this message merely to motivate you.

Sometimes I need to offend you so that you get angry and do well! 😂

I want you to think seriously about your future.

If your salary stopped today, what would sustain you?

If your employer closed tomorrow, what would you fall back on?

If the invitations and recognition disappeared, what would remain?

You don’t have to build everything in one day. The ant doesn’t do that either.

But you must start somewhere.

Don’t spend your whole life jumping from place to place while others are building estates.

🐜 Don’t be a grasshopper.

🏠 Build your address.

💪 Build something that can outlive your active working years.

And above all, don’t work all your life and retire with nothing.

🎥 Watch the Full Message

📚 Continue Learning

Discover more practical lessons on wealth creation, financial discipline, and building lasting value in my book, The Philosophy of the Ant.

Get Your Copy of The Philosophy of the Ant in our ebook store or on amazon:

💬 Let Me Hear From You

What is your address?

What are you building today that will continue to provide value when you are no longer actively working?

Share your thoughts in the comments.