While growing up as a child in Cape Coast, there was this hymn we used to sing so much during church services. When I moved on to College subsequently, it was still one of the favorite hymns for the College Sunday Mass. Mr Mark Forjoe and his band of choristers would simply not drop it beyond two Sundays. For whatever reason, I had so much come to love the hymn but strangely, it took a while to appreciate the true worth of the hymn as follows:
Let us love one another;
Because love comes from the Good God;
Whoever loves is a child of God;
Knows God, loves God, because God is love.
God is love, he sent his Son;
To redeem us, for God is love
Apparently, the hymn had been composed based on 1st John 4:7, a fact I only got to know much later. Ever since then, I began singing and loving the hymn even more. I had unconsciously encrypted the words into my spirit in a manner that was to shape up my outlook on life for good. I treated everyone who came into my life as a literal child of God therefore my brother and/or sister.
Thus, treating people on the basis of stature, profession, background, etc ceased to be an issue in my life. By the time, I was graduating into the world of work, a certain kind of ministry had apparently been born inside of me, that tended to tilt towards created support systems for young people. This, I have managed to undertake for years, as the Lord has granted me the grace and guidance.
As I celebrated my birthday yesterday, I was indeed inundated by hundreds of messages on my wall as well as others in threads of others and linked to my wall. As I read through the messages, I couldn’t help but be grateful to God for having used my life thus far to influence some kind of change in the lives of these many young people with whom our lives have crossed paths. Some of these were people, who had only encountered me from afar while many more were friends only on the various social media platforms. Only a few tens were people who meet me regularly and interface and yet interestingly, they all shared the same kind of messages. I was puzzled and humbled by this.
Even more amazed were some parcels I received. One young APSUnian who graduated from University only two weeks ago got a dispatch vehicle deliver to me a giant hamper of continental breakfast for an entire family. As if not enough, someone I only got to know barely a year ago managed to know of my birthday through sources (I cannot tell) and quickly ordered and sent a dispatch to deliver a nice birthday cake. In both cases, I got to know of the source only after the items had been delivered. A third person called in the morning to ask if my MTN number was active, only to send GHC200.00 via MoMo. As I was driving home, I was called and informed of a second cake from a source yet to be ascertained at the of writing.
Sitting back this evening to evaluate the events of the day and my life thus far, I was left in no doubt that God has called each and everyone of us and that when He does call us, He also gives us all specific mandates to fulfill. To enable the fulfillment of these, He further equips so we are fully enabled to deliver. For those who knew me back in college, there was no way I could end up this way, even though I had always been the ‘prim-and-proper’ kind of child. Indeed, God has called all of us and it’s important that we all identify and live out that mandate, for it is only in doing so, that we will be able to undertake our divine mandate.
As 1st John 3:16-22 (NLT) indicates, “We know what real love is because Jesus gave up his life for us. So we also ought to give up our lives for our brothers and sisters. If someone has enough money to live well and sees a brother or sister in need but shows no compassion—how can God’s love be in that person? Dear children, let’s not merely say that we love each other; let us show the truth by our actions. Our actions will show that we belong to the truth, so we will be confident when we stand before God. Even if we feel guilty, God is greater than our feelings, and he knows everything. Dear friends, if we don’t feel guilty, we can come to God with bold confidence. And we will receive from him whatever we ask because we obey him and do the things that please him.”
My dear friend, you certainly cannot claim to love God whom you do not see, while unwilling and unable to love your neighbour whom you interact with daily. That is certainly an anathema to our Christian faith. Our love for God must surely reflect in our direct relationship with our fellow man, if it is to be seen and acknowledged. It is for this purpose that He sent His Son, that we’d by appreciation of same, allow ourselves to become instruments of reconciliation drawing souls to the Father.
To all my wonderful brethren and sistren, who really helped me appreciate the goodness of the Lord in the celebration of my birthday, I remain eternally grateful. Let us join hands and continually purpose to fulfill that mandate in drawing all men to Him as we possess our territories. Peace and many blessings!
#PossessingTheNations
My dear friend,
Trackbacks/Pingbacks