It’s one of those fine Sunday evening, those Sundays when
you finally decide to look for an item that got misplaced in the house months
ago. You know those activities you keep postponing? Yes, the day has finally
come and I am here, opening one case after another, locker after another, lifting
a book after another as I hum some few choruses, you know that keeps the mind active.
My search is short lived though , not because I have found what am looking for, but because
my attention has been drawn to a small old note book, it is my high school note
book.You know those books you used to write everything that happened to you, you
write who crossed your day during the sports day or during the maths symposium,
how they looked and what they said? You know, those interesting teenage
stories. The ones you write about that chemistry assignment that you didn’t do
on time and you ended up in the punishment lane, that book you jot down the
prize giving day where you were awarded a torch for doing well in given
subject!, where you write some famous quotes others you don’t even understand
but they sound too sweet not to be written down...and because memories are made
of such, I now get lost in the contents of the book, you know reading a page
after another…..
Well, am lost reading page by page, there are several quotes and bible verses, I am however drawn
to some few paragraphs of prayer, you know those deep sentences you write to
your father, I am moved into tears(shhhhh 😤😤😤😤)…..I read one after another….I am reminded of
the circumstances that led to the writing down of the prayer lines, the
situations I was in and how only God could come through for me, I am taken
back,,,,a video of my life plays in my head…my mind is over whelmed, my heart
is moved! My soul is stirred, my heart is heavy and my eyes are wet. The things
I used to tell God even when I didn’t even know what salvation was, the deep
secrets I would just pour to Him! Indeed this far it has been God. I am reminded
of how I came to Christ and how I only needed Jesus in my life.
It is in that moment that my spirit is quickened….That at
times we forget the far we have come by God’s grace, we reach a point and take
things for granted. I read those sentences and I can tell that indeed the Lord
has been and still is working in me! My spirit is quickened and questions are
running in my mind. I would pose the some questions to you my reader today. Do
you remember the day you gave your life to Christ? Do you remember how you
would cry to God to give you strength to face another day? How you would wake
up before dawn just to speak to your father? How you were passionate for the
Lord? Do you remember how you would preach the little you knew about Christ and
His saving grace? When you would not rest because souls are perishing
somewhere? Do you remember the days you were so passionate about Christ? Days
you were so faithful in your giving to a point of recording any gifts givem so
that by Sunday, you would give 100% tithe? Days you were devoted in reading the
word? Yes, am taken back to those days.
Well, as human beings at times we forget the far God has
brought us from. There is a day you needed school fees, you cried and God
provided. There is a day you needed a job, you prayed and God gave you a job
and you were so grateful, you even called everyone in your prayer circle and
you gave thanks to God, Now you have rose in ranks and have forgotten that it
took the hand of God, you are ever complaining of the pay, the boss, the environment,
your employer, you actually complain about everything….what changed? Why can’t
you go back to the God who gave you the job and pray for a change instead of
being un grateful? You Prayed for a partner, God gave you one, you even
testified the doing of the Lord as you bid bachelorhood bye…but now you are
forever complaining, you are not respecting and loving them as before? Undermining
their authority and bruising their ego? What changed? That was once a blessing…what
really changed? Friends, let’s not be like the Israelites, God took them from
the land of Egypt with promise to get them to the promised land…But when they
faced a few challenges in the wilderness, they murmured, they complained to Moses,
they missed their stay in Egypt, place they were slaves and overworked, They
missed the fish, Cucumbers, Melons, onions and Garlic (Numbers 11:5). They
forgot the plagues, they forgot how God finished their enemies in their very
own eyes at the red sea, they forgot how God saved their firstborn during the Passover…they
forgot everything. They fixed their eyes in their current circumstances and the
glory of God in the past was gone from their minds. At some point they even
made a golden calf declared it as their god and even made an alter!
But God is telling us in Isaiah
51: 1 hearken to me you who follow after righteousness ye that seek the Lord:
look unto the rock whence ye are hewn, and to the hole of the pit whence ye are
digged. God is constantly reminding us the work of His divine grace in our
lives. To keep our hearts humble and Conscience awake and tender. When a builder
Plans to construct a building, the materials are rough, but they are hewn, shaped,
moulded and fitted. The materials are now fit for use in the building. That’s the
same way we were once lost in sin, unlovable, rough and unkempt, God extended
His love towards us. Romans 5:8 But God commended
his love toward us in that while we were yet sinners Christ died for us.
Friends, we have been saved, Redeemed and reconciled to our
heavenly father through the finished work of the Cross. Let us not forget the Lord
our God. Let these words given to the Israelites also guide us in our pilgrim
journey.
Deuteronomy 8: 7 for the lord thy God bringeth thee into a good land, a
land of water, of fountains, and depths that spring out of valleys and hills.
Vs 8 A land of wheat, and barley and vines and fig trees and
pomegranates, land of olive oil and honey.
Vs 10, when though hast eaten and art full, then though bless the Lord
they God for the good which he has given thee.
We can make this our prayer today:
Lord Jesus, it’s my
prayer, that when you have blessed me with every earthly blessing, when I get
to enjoy the life in the land of the living, that I will not be lost into the
world. That my heart will always glorify your name that I will always desire to
walk with you. That I will not get too focused on the world treasures and Pleasures
and forget that there is a place you have prepared from me, a destiny in Christ
Jesus, to reign as a king in a kingdom with principles. I pray that I will not
let your hand go, but my desire will be to walk each step with you…
AMEN
