APOLOGY TO KO- OKUMU, KAKOKO
WELFARE GROUPS AND LELA C.B.O. IN RESPECT TO THE FUNERAL OF MY MOTHER, MAMA
ASKER ANYANGO OTIENO, HELD ON 23RD, SEPTEMBER, 2016, FRIDAY- LELA, AHERO VIA
KISUMU KENYA.
Sorry fathers, mothers, brothers and
sisters.
Jesus Christ prayed for those who crucified
him, saying that: “Father,
forgive them; for they know not what they do” (Luke
23:34). Based on the Greek word aphiemi or aphesis for forgiveness, Jesus Christ requested God to dismiss, pardon the sins/
evil intentions of those who crucified him. He asked God as the Father of all
things, to remove completely the purported cause of offences whose accusers used
against him, before crucifying him. He requested God to deliver them
unconditionally. The reason for the request for dismissal is for they know not what they do. That is, they were ignorant of God’s plan for human
redemption. The Hebrew word kaphar or salach for forgiveness has the sense of giving up resentment or claim to
requital on the account of an offence resulting from deprivation and violation
of the moral law, called the Gospel. This is exactly what Jesus Christ was
asking God to do. Paul the apostle wrote in 1 Corinthians 2:7-8 that: “But
we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, even the hidden wisdom, which God
ordained before the world unto our glory: Which none of the princess of this
world knew: for had they known it, they would not have crucified the Lord of
glory.”
The first negative speech was the collection given by Ko- Okumu (rural) and Kakoko members, which to the accusing brother Gordon was below par. The blame placed on diminishing love, a love that had grown cold within the community. Some elderly persons were, considered as contributing factors. This displeases the chairman- Mr. Timon, who felt his authority was undermined. The record in Acts 11:29-30 states, that: “Then the disciples, every man according to his ability, determined to send relief unto the brethren which dwelt in Judaea: Which also they did, and sent it to the elders by the hands of Barnabas and Saul.” Peter the apostle wrote (1 Peter 4:11): “If any man speak, let him speak as the oracles of God; if any man minister, let him do it as of the ability which God giveth: that God in all things may be glorified through Jesus Christ, to whom praise and dominion for ever and ever. Amen.” Paul the apostle stated: “Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things” (Philippians 4:8). People of Kano, including this accusing brother, should know that social and communal interests, is based on one’s ability, not the targets set or imposed, neither, human expectations whatsoever for the vice is exactly the greed evident in business, and funerals should not be given such categorization. At the same time a dead person is more expensive than the living. Remember the case of Jesus Christ. Judas Iscariot betrayed him for 30 pieces of silver when Christ was alive, but lo when the Lord was dead, Joseph of Arimathae buried him expensively. The Israelites beared the cost of carrying the bones of Joseph on their Exodus from Egypt.
Giving must reveal hospitality. The Gospel came as a free gift, so everything we give must be from our genuine hearts, our own free will.
Relying on above letter written by Saint Paul to Philippians, our giving, should be governed by the following obligations: TRUE. Our giving should be based on reality and aiming at reality. “But when thou doest alms, let not thy left hand know what thy right hand doeth” (Matthew 6:3). We should not give in order to please someone. We should not seek permission from our wives, our parents, even husbands before giving. Some appear smart in this community, but they are under the dominion of their respective wives. Their wives had reduced them into outer covers, into shells of men. We should not let tradition to compel us to give. We should not give in order to hide the shame from relatives. Giving should not be an act of sympathy rendered to the poor. HONEST. We should give honorable, admirable, worthy of reverence, the combination of gravity and dignity. “What doth it profit, my brethren, though a man say he hath faith, and have not works? Can faith save him? If a brother or a sister be naked, and destitute of daily food, And one of you say unto them, Depart in peace, be ye warmed and filled; notwithstanding ye give them not those things which are needful to the body; what doth it profit?” (James 2:14-16). JUST. Our giving should demonstrate the righteous relations between man and man, and man and God. “Whosoever hateth his brother is a murderer: and ye know that no murderer hath eternal life abiding in him” (1 John 3:15). “Every man according as he purposeth in his heart, so let him give; not grudgingly, or of necessity: for God loveth a cheerful giver.” (2 Corinthians 9:7). PURE. Our giving should be stainless, chaste and unsullied. The giving must be from free will, heart and not something developing into later regrets. “Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye did it not to one of the least of these, ye did it not to me” (Matthew 25:46). Giving should have nothing to do with promises for by this, falsehood developed later. Give what you can. Promise nothing. Do not promise what you cannot give. GOOD REPORT. Our giving should be attractive and fair speaking. We should not stop people from talking about the good things they have received. “Therefore all things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them: for this is the law and the prophets” (Matthew 7:12). VIRTUE. Our giving should have mental, moral, and physical excellence. “…remember the word of the Lord Jesus, how he said, It is more blessed to give than receive” (Acts 20:35). PRAISE. Our giving should be praiseworthy, deemed worthy of praise. It must be something worthy for the praise of God. “And whatsoever ye do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God and the Father by him” (Colossians 3:17). THINK. Meditate with careful reflection, not casually and superficially, but constantly and logically. It is your responsibility to think first, whether what you are giving is good or bad before having negative or positive perspective towards it and the receiver. “For as he thinketh in his heart, so is he: Eat and drink, saith he to thee; but his heart is not with thee” (Proverbs 23:7). There is nothing to lose by giving, for we came in this world with nothing and we will carry nothing from it even if we give or do not give. Everything in this world including ourselves belonged to God. Our God, the only true God, the God of Israel, is a God of peace and love. His love is by giving. “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life” (John 3:16). “Beloved, if God so loved us, we ought to love one another… And we have known and believed the love that God hath to us. God is love; and he that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God, and God in him” (1 John 4:11, 16). Giving, which creates tensions, hostilities, should be rejected, and the givers, should not be offended if they are returned. Noble thinking produces noble living. High thinking produces high living. Holy thinking produces holy living. The gift of giving was exemplified in Christ, and is produced by guidance of the Holy Ghost. “Finally, brethren, farewell. Be perfect, be of good comfort, be of one mind, live in peace; and the God of love and peace shall be with you” (2 Corinthians 13:11).
So, to me, as a person who feared God, and
hope for eternity without allowing the distraction caused by the cares, love of
worldly things, not publicity pursue, neither further reservations, I know (not
I think) that Ko- Okumu and Kakoko members gave according to their abilities/
capabilities. There was no justification to expect much from the people who had
not received much from anyone. There is no reason for people who boast of
advanced knowledge/ learning, had much cash to spend, and had more acquaintance
and converse with poverty, to expect much from those without or with little,
those desperately in need of help and no help forthcoming from anyone because
of smelling jealousy, rotten selfishness and cankered greed. Building school in
a place overcrowded with schools is not a way of wealth creation, neither way
of developing employment. Putting piped salty water in a village, cannot
alleviate hunger. It cannot bring food for the water, even though it is
appreciated development. One must eat food before drinking water. Building
dispensary where another hospital is nearby, is wishing people to be plagued
with various diseases. It is death sentence for one to get opportunity in order
to contribute in funeral. These do not warrant demanding much from the
community. We should not be happy of one’s death. Alternatively funeral is not
a place to settle scores. A person should not wait for one’s funeral in order
to give. Jesus Christ did not approve, recognize such gifts as recorded in Matthew 25:31-46, even if we struggle to give towards funeral expenses.
Give or help someone when he or she is living. “… God is not the God of the dead, but of the living” (Matthew
22:32). Let us deviate from this gall of bitterness, and in the bond of
iniquity- the venomous attitude toward that which is
good (Acts 8:23).
The second negative speech was the joining of welfare groups at the workplace. To
me this was a disputation in a bad taste but there was something positive in
it. At the funeral, Mr. Timon urged those in urban to abandon their workplace
welfare groups in order to support the one at home financially, a speech which
did not go well with Gordon. Togetherness is the integral strength of the
society both in the workplace and at home. “Two are better than one; because they have a good reward for
their labour. For if they fall, the one will lift up his fellow: but woe to him
that is alone when he falleth; for he hath not another to help him up” (Ecclesiastes
4:9-10). God had no one man’s army. He has entire
nation of Israel. Christ has a Church full of Christians. Several welfare
groups are better than one. For this reason, our financial support is relevant,
in workplace welfare groups as well as the community welfare group at home. One
should contribute in both, according to ability. This accomplished the
contemporary proverb which stated that when
one door closes another opens. The door of the welfare group at home closes
temporarily due to financial constraints. That is when the doors of the
workplace welfare groups is opened, come in. This is a natural phenomenon, and
not be used to undermine leadership. “For
so is the will of God, that with well doing ye may put to silence the ignorance
of foolish men” (1
Peter 2:15).
The third negative speech concerned the Lela C.B.O. Here the chairman, Mr. Timon,
narrated how my mother was not actively contributing in the funerals of the
deceased members of this welfare group, how the welfare slapped a fine on us,
how the fine was not paid prompting members to reject contributing towards the
funeral of my mother. The Lela C.B.O members were present at the funeral. This
provided clear evidence that even though, they did not support us financially,
their presence, supported us emotionally. Remember the lame man from birth
sitting at the Beautiful gate, recorded in Acts 3:1-11. Before this man received
healing as result of prayer, divine intervention from Peter, supported by John-
son of Zebedee, he expected to get alms from them. Peter told him straight to
his face: “Silver and gold
have I none; but such as I have give I thee: In the name of Jesus Christ of
Nazareth rise up and walk” (Acts 3:6). In the case of Lela C.B.O, they did not have money,
but only have their presence at funeral, which they give. Hence, in the name of
Jesus Christ, burial was peaceful. “For
if a man think himself to be something, when he is nothing, he deceiveth
himself. But let every man prove his own work, and then shall he have rejoicing
in himself alone, and not in another. For every man shall bear his own burden” (Galatians
6:3-5). Self-esteem is vanity. Vanity is nothing,
emptiness. Consequently, self-conceit results into self-deception. Let every man prove his own work that is, examining himself by the
unerring rule of God’s word, and not by the false measures of what others are, or
may think of him. If we have the testimony of our consciences, that, God
accepted us, we need not much concern ourselves about what others think or say
of us. A good man will not arrive at a wrong conclusion by comparing himself
with the other person. You do not need to oppress more and more, neither to
exploit the sweat of many in order to be special. Famous people are filthy
before God, and are plagued with various none curable diseases in the world. “For none of us
liveth to himself, and no man dieth to himself” (Romans 14:7). No one consulted God to be born in
this world, and no one has invited death in order to leave this world. These
things happened due to, or because of God’s pleasure and free will, which no
one has authority to question whatsoever. “Blessed art thou, O Lord God of our
fathers: thy name is worthy to be praised and glorified for evermore: For thou
art righteous in all the things that thou hast done to us: yea, true are all
thy works, thy ways are right, and all thy judgments truth” (The Song Of The
Three Holy Children 1:3-4, Apocrypha). “Nay but, O man,
who art thou that replieth against God? Shall the thing formed say to him that
formed it, Why hast thou made me thus? Hath not the potter power over the clay,
of the same lump to make one vessel unto honour, and another unto dishonour?” (Romans 9:20-21).We are not our own masters, neither
our own proprietors. We are not our own disposal. The business of our lives is
not to please ourselves. The business of our deaths, to which we are exposed
and delivered, is not to make for ourselves stories, legacy. Lela C.B.O could
have known that life and death stood like a two-edged sword, the two sides of a
coin, feedbacks and drawbacks, and that there was no point of deserting a
person at the point of death, while in her lifetime she was welcomed with her
contributions no matter whether it was big or small. “Hast thou
faith? Have it to thyself before God. Happy is he that condemneth not himself
in that thing which he alloweth” (Romans 14:22). In other words, do you have firm
conviction before God, that what you believe and do is right? If you deny your
love to someone because money is required due to her funeral expenses, but you
love her by your presence, then you are spiritually condemning yourself. The
chairman used the phrase: “my mother was
not walking with them.” Anyway, how does the living walk with the dead? Let
none bring judgment upon him/herself by his/ her offenses, utterances, abuse of
Christian liberty, ceremonial laws, delight in squabbles and personal
dissatisfactions.
The fourth negative speech concerned the death of my mother and the vacuum she left
at home, a narrative given by the brother George. This narrative touched those
who hated my mother, fighting her to the grave, the lost son/ brother, the pain
caused and praiseworthy to someone because of a bag of maize and piped water. The
record in Hebrews 11:1 states: “Now
faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.” That is, faith translated from Greek pistis, the cognate of peitho, rendered in Hebrews ‘emun, describes firm persuasion and expectation. It is the substance rendered in Greek hypostasis, that is, essence
or reality of something as well as the foundation. It is evidence rendered in Greek elegchos, that is, the
sense of proof, which results in conviction, a clear indication of God’s
judgment. Its concern is of
the things hoped for, specifically the future assurance of the
resurrection, the second return of Christ, and glorification of saints. Its
concern is also of
things not seen, that is, unobservable present realities
such as forgiveness of sins through Christ’s sacrifice, obedience to the
Gospel, and the present intercession of Christ for Christian believers in
heaven. Faith demonstrates to the eyes of mind the reality of those things,
which are not discernable by the eyes in the body. Faith is the firm assent of
the soul to the divine revelation and every part of it, and sets to its seal
that God is true. Paul wrote in Romans
1:17, that: “For therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to
faith: as it is written (that
is Habakkuk 2:4),
The just shall live by faith.” Righteousness of God is by faith in Christ Jesus, and
revealed in faithful living. Just man is a righteous man. That man must believe.
He must have faith. It is an evil man, unjust, that does not live by faith. The
evil man lives by doubts, by speculations, and is finally offended in his
reasoning. If Christ did not rise up from the dead, then there is no
resurrection of the dead, there is no truth in the Gospel preaching, and
Christians are the most miserable of all people in the world (1 Corinthians 15:12-19). Resurrection is the Gospel message. If the people
believe, have hope in the resurrection of their loved ones then it is obvious
that Christ resurrected from the dead. It is only a person ignorant of
resurrection that can defend or be against a dead one. Each and, every person
has pros and cons in life. No one was born perfect in the world. We exist
because of God’s grace. To, this clear reasoning, there is nothing we can add,
to a dead person through giving sweet testimonies- eulogies, neither
subtracting by giving bitter, bad testimonies. Every person has his or her good
/ bad sides of life. Daniel the prophet prophesies: “And many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall
awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt” (Daniel
12:2). This alluded to the resurrection of the
just and unjust spoken in Acts
24:15, and is categorical in Revelation 20. Just person cannot become unjust person before God by
the bad eulogies spoken at his/ her funeral. Unjust person cannot become just
person before God, simply because people gave sweet testimonies at his or her
funeral. There are two destinies: for the righteous and the wicked person
respectively. This will offend those who appeared as being corrupted, bribed to
tell only good, sweet things about dead people at their funerals. Death is not
the end of everything. “But
why dost thou judge thy brother? Or why dost thou set at nought thy brother?
For we shall all stand before the judgment seat of Christ … So then every one
of us shall give account of himself to God” (Romans
14:10, 12). We shall not have our children, brothers, sisters,
fathers, mothers, friends, neither, relatives to defend us before God through
their sweet eulogies. We will be answerable for all we have done in this earth
whether good or evil. Spare us the crap, the trash uttered at funerals.
Contemporary reveals: “we should not cry
over spilled milk.” “…
Flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; neither doth corruption
inherit incorruption” (1 Corinthians 15:50). The natural body is flesh and blood, consisting of
bones, muscles, nerves, veins, arteries, and their several fluids; and, as
such, it is of corruptible frame and form, liable to dissolution, to rot, decay,
because of the sin of Adam and Eve, known as our first parents. The body must
be buried in this world, remain in this world, and there is nothing
interesting, no gain we can make, no matter the publicity we seek at funeral,
neither the pain we felt for loosing beloved one. God placed this change. No
cry can change it. An Indian killed in America, the materialistic country known
globally, because of professing faith in Christ, once said before his death that: “He is not a fool to give what he cannot
keep, to gain what he cannot loose.” Only fools protect what they cannot
keep, what they loose, the same who are saddened, bitter of someone’s death. “O wretched man that I am! Who shall
deliver me from the body of this death?” (Romans 7:24). The brother could have known that no matter the strength or tasty of his defense
of my mother by painting negativity
about her relationship with other people, the fact remains that such phenomenon
did not raise her from the dead, and never will. Only God through Christ had
the power to do it, and it will happen at the second coming of Christ.
The lost son or brother was I. George knew
exactly the reason. To sum up, it was faith credibility. There was no potential
justification to accuse another innocent person for my departure. I am happy
where I went. David the son of Jesse wrote in Psalms 34:14 stating: “Depart from evil, and do good; seek
peace, and pursue it.” Go away
from evil works and evil workers; from the sins, others commit and which we
have formerly allowed ourselves in, to avoid it as one would avoid a plague. Do
good things because opportunity warrants. Seek peace because peace is not a
magnet which seeks out the hunter; it is a precious treasure woven in the
fabric of distress which must be tirelessly extricated by its seeker. Romans 14:19, states: “Let
us therefore follow after the things which make for peace, and the things
wherewith one may edify another.” Hebrews 12:14, states: “Follow
peace with all men, and holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord.” Peace must, be brought into action even if it demands
departing the way I did it. I wanted to have peace. We should not wish for
peace when we do not follow, practice things that make for peace. We must pray
for peace when in the midst of unreasonable and wicked men (1 Timothy 2:1-2; 2
Thessalonians 3:1-2). We must labour for peace (Romans 12:18). Peace is mandatory to Christian believers. It is only
a wicked person who talks of forgiveness when he has an inner circle of gossip,
moved by discord, selfishly dominated by materialism, has pleasure in
prosperity, pretends friendship when mischief lies in his heart, publicly declares
himself a brother to the people he would eventually hate, and has no peace
because he cannot walk his talk. Without peace, there will be no eternity.
Without peace, the warring or contentious person will not see God. “For God is not the author of
confusion, but of peace, as in churches of the saints” (1
Corinthians 14:33). God is the enemy of disorder, gossip,
pride, confusion, and disruption. Wicked man had no peace by himself, in his
own body, in his contacts/ contracts, in his own wife, in his own children, in
his own brothers/ sisters, and generally in the society. Christ said that “Woe unto the world because of offences!
For it must needs be that offences come; but woe to that man by whom the
offence cometh”(Matthew
18:7). He again said “Blessed are peacemakers: for they shall be called the children
of God” (Matthew
5:9). Christian walk is a decision made,
presented as choices: 1. Choose your way, the way of life or the way of death.
Moses told the children of Israel that: “See, I have set before thee this day life and good, and death
and evil” (Deuteronomy
30:15). Solomon wrote in Proverbs 14:12 that: “There
is a way which seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of
death.” The ways of sensual pleasures, drug
addictions, immorality, and taking the advantage of the poor/ less fortunate to
get rich. 2. Choose your master, whom you will serve. “And if it seem evil unto you to serve
the LORD, choose you this day whom ye will serve…” (Joshua
24:15). Christ taught that: “No man can serve two masters: for
either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the
one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon” (Matthew
6:24). 3. Choose your gift or reward, temporal or
permanent. “If a son shall ask
bread of any of you that is a father, will he give him a stone? Or if he asked
a fish, will he for a fish give him a serpent? Or if he shall ask for an egg,
will he offer him scorpion? If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts
unto your children: how much more shall your heavenly Father give the Holy
Spirit to them that ask him?” (Luke 11:11-13). 4. Choose your destination, heaven or hell. “Enter ye in at the strait gate: for
wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many
there be which go in thereat: Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the
way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it” (Matthew
7:13-14). The decision must be made when one is
alive, and cannot be influenced, neither altered by testimonies given on
behalf, nor praising of a dead person. The scripture makes it clear that a
proper knowledge of God must rest upon a proper doctrine of God. Hebrews 9:27 states: "And it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment."
The fifth negative speech was about the euphoria of literacy. The genesis of the
problem was the assistant chief, identified as Mr. Lawi, who on that day,
emphasized on the value of education, which culminated into well living. The
elder mother in the scriptural condemned polygamous family revealed how her
children were not educated. She said “Our
people, our kindred, I have no eloquent speaker, speaker of English in my
house, among my children.” This raptured into attack by Lydia, also called
Christine, the only biological sister, who upon given opportunity to speak,
reasoned that my mother educated her children by her own means, her own tough
ways of survival for the fittest. She gained support from my uncles who spoke
after her. Her statement was a lie, an attitude of a daughter who had adapted
unjustified polygamous hatred deeply rooted from her mother. The burden of
education was a contentious issue, which my elder mother could have asked the
father, sought from him, before his death. However, on the funeral of my father
held on 27, September, 2014, Saturday, no one spoke of such issue. In fact,
some laughed to scorn, when the microphone was snatched away from me, after
raising the issue, in my scriptural condemnation of polygamy. English,
originally called Anglo-Saxon, is just like any other language before God, and
there is no need of making it special emphasis. This language, spoken by the
descendants of Japheth, is the present Babylonian language. It is the language
of the world today, the lingua franca, which in future will be used in rebuilding the tower of Babel.
To speak the language of Babylon does not mean one is living their lifestyle.
Education is good only if it can bring the recipients into the saving Gospel of
Jesus Christ. Nevertheless, if pursued with the mentality of materialism,
pleasure, and pride, then it is a flop, and a failure, an invitation of spiritual
death. Jesus Christ declared that: “I
thank thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because thou hast hid these things
from the wise and prudent, and hast revealed them unto babes. Even so, Father:
for so it seemed good in thy sight”(Matthew 11:25-26). Thank, from the Greek exomologeo, meant
acknowledge. Jesus Christ acknowledged God for taking the will of the Gospel as
his own will, taking what ways he pleases to glorify himself, and the making of
instruments he pleases for the carrying on of his own work. The wise, and
prudent, were people of eminent learning and worldly policy, the greatest
scholars, and states-men. Men of lucrative birth and exaggerated education,
credentials, known as scholars, artists, engineers, surveyors, business tycoons,
politicians, university dons, are strangers to the Gospel, and are ignorant of
the mystery of God’s kingdom. In fact, hell is full of them. Paul spoke, as
recorded in 1
Corinthians 3:18-19 that: “Let no man deceive himself. If any man among you seemeth to be
wise in this world, let him become a fool, that he may be wise. For the wisdom
of this world is foolishness with God. For it is written (that is Job 5:13),
He taketh the wise in their own craftiness.”
In other words, do not have high opinion crafted from worldly education to lead
you away from the truth and simplicity of the Gospel. One must be sensible of his
own ignorance, and lament it. He must distrust his own understanding, and not
to lean on it. Self-flattery is self-deceit. Learn to resign your own understanding, what
you think you know best, in order to follow instruction of God. Infallible
revelation from God is better than shallow reasoning of man. God had taken the
wise in their own craftiness, in the sense that man had been the architect of
his own eternal doom, hence, Solomon was perfectly right when he wrote that: “Lo, this only have I found, that God
hath made man upright; but they have sought out many inventions” (Ecclesiastes
7:29). The wise and prudent constituted the
religious leaders who disturbed Jesus Christ throughout his lifetime. They
devised mischief and accused him falsely. The educated people crucified Jesus
Christ. The educated people from Egypt who pursued the children of Israel under
the leadership of Moses ended perishing with their education in the Red Sea.
Herod Agrippa I, a descendant of Esau, advanced in Greek education given by
Romans, who became proud, parading himself as a god after beheading James, the
son of Zebedee, brother of John, planning the same on Peter, found himself
eaten by worms while still alive, dying in his education. Nebuchadnezzar, a
king advanced in Babylonian education, who disrespected God, by making people
to worship his statue, ended living as a beast, and consequently eating large
quantity of grass capable to feed oxen. Most educated people, men and women of
eloquence, are into devil worshipping, some parading themselves as atheists,
scientists, fortunetellers and magicians or native doctors. Their education had
prompted them into rejecting the God of Israel. “Even as I have seen, they that plow iniquity, and sow
wickedness reap the same” (Job 4:8). “Be
not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he
also reap. For he that soweth to the flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption;
but he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting” (Galatians
6:7-8). Sow the truth and reap honesty. Sow gentleness
and reap niceness. Sow a thought and reap an act. Sow an act and reap a habit.
Sow a habit and reap a character. Sow a character and reap a destiny. Sow the
Gospel and reap eternity. “Let
us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts
sprinkled from an evil conscience, and our bodies washed with pure water” (Hebrews
10:22). The earth, with everything in it,
including the people belonged to God, not us. Let us not quarrel over something
we cannot change. Our forefathers struggled for this among themselves in vain.
Our fathers did not succeed either, and, now we are here wasting our efforts.
Let us head straight to the Gospel, pursue the salvation brought by Christ’s
sacrifice, and be focused on eternity.
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