President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has tasked church leaders to impress upon their members to be hard working and desist from over reliance on miracles for success.

“These days, we are in danger of getting things out of balance and allowing our lives to be taken over completely by a narrow interpretation of religion. Hard work, cleanliness and respect for the law used to be important attributes of religiosity. Hard work, the preacher men used to tell us, pays dividends,” he said.

“We were urged to give to Caesar what was Caesar’s and to God what was God’s. Miracles occurred, but they were not everyday occurrences. We were urged to work hard and that was the basis of success.”

Mr Akufo-Addo, who was addressing an international conference on entrepreneurship organised by the Methodist University College on Monday, March 27, said individuals should not sacrifice hard work for other unfruitful ventures and depend on a supernatural forces for success.

“We take out a week for every funeral and expect our businesses to thrive because we invoke the name of the Almighty,” he added.

“I mention this, simply, to make the point that there is the need to keep a proper balance at all times. As it’s said in the Holy Scriptures: 'A false balance is an abomination to the Lord, but a just weight is His delight.' …We cannot and should not continue to hide behind religiosity to indulge in the habits that have characterised our attitude to work.”