Blood Is Required.
“Did you bring the sacrifice?”
There is a famous story in the Bible about Cain and Abel, where God accepted the sacrifice of Abel and rejected that of Cain.
And there are many speculations about why Cain’s sacrifice was rejected.
Some say it was the quality, others say it was the posture of his heart.
Quite frankly, all of these are assumptions and speculations, it wasn’t clearly stated.
But there is a detail most people miss, the Old Testament system was built around blood, every single sacrifice required blood.
However, Cain was a farmer, while Abel was a shepherd.
For Abel, He had an existing advantage, getting a sacrifice was immediate, He already had sheep. All he had to do was choose one, kill it, and offer it.
But for Cain, the journey to blood was long,
He had to:
Cultivate the land,
Plant crops,
Wait through seasons,
Pray rain doesn’t disgrace him,
Harvest crops,
Hope inflation hasn’t happened,
Sell his produce,
Make money,
Buy an animal,
Then kill it,
Then finally perform the sacrifice.
And this is where I believe Cain made his fatal mistake.
It may have been believing that difficulty entitled him to adjusted standards, so he offered fruits instead.
Unfortunately, the world does not automatically reduce the price of greatness because your starting point was difficult.
BLOOD WAS REQUIRED, and his sacrifice simply didn’t have it.
And this is the uncomfortable truth many people don’t like to hear,
You can explain your constraints,
You can document your disadvantages,
You can write essays about infrastructure, instability, corruption, exchange rates, power supply, and broken systems.
And much of it will be true.
But guess what? Blood is still required!
The market does not care that NEPA took light.
The client does not care that your WiFi was unstable.
The investor does not care that your environment is difficult.
Plus with the advent of the internet, your work is competing globally by default, and the global competition is emotionally indifferent.
A designer in Lagos is competing with one in Paris.
The tech job you’re applying for is against candidates in China
A developer in Ibadan is competing for the same limited capital as one in Dubai.
A founder in Nigeria is pitching for the same attention as someone in Silicon Valley.
And thus, somewhere in your head you expect life to compensate you because you are from a third world country.
Franky speaking, one of the most dangerous mentalities you can develop is expecting reality to emotionally compensate you for your disadvantages. Sadly, life is deeply unequal in distribution, while remaining painfully equal in expectation.
Like Abel, some people are born closer to the sheep, while like Cain, others start with soil.
Some people inherit networks.
Some people start the race with capital.
Some people inherit “powerful surnames”
But eventually, reality asks everyone the same question:
“Did you bring the sacrifice?”
I’ll end with a parable-like statement,
“He who life gives soil, has no business working like someone who life gave sheep”
Interpret this however you like.
Because at the end of the day,
Blood is still required !
Till when next I write to you, keep Sacrificing! (Utters evil laugh in Kanayo. O Kanayo’s voice)…. Apologies my diaspora readers, I probably lost you in the words in bracket.
-Okunade Boluwaduro
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Blood is required!