Death and life are in the power of the tongue, and those who love it will eat its fruit! – Proverbs 18:21
Whatever side of the divide you are, it is to everyone’s benefit that we all pray for Nigeria.
A prosperous Nation breeds a prosperous People. But to become a prosperous nation, we all have to play our part by making conscious efforts to be good people.
We are a religious people. There are churches and mosques scattered all over the country. We pray. But developing a country, building a country, takes more than just praying.
2 Chronicles 7:14 says, “if My people who are called by My name will humble themselves, and pray and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land.”
The key part there is ‘turn from their wicked ways!’ There are quite a number of things that can be categorized as wicked ways. There are some actions you probably don’t see as wicked acts, but it is.
– Calling Nigeria a zoo, or other negative names, is a wicked act. You might not see it as anything. But there is power is the tongue, the power of life and death. The things you say either helps to build Nigeria or adds to destroying it.
– When you drop a piece of paper that you ought to put in a thrash can on the floor, you are being wicked. That piece of paper, pure water sachet, sweet/biscuit wrapper, will end up in the gutter/drainage and cause a blockage that will lead to flooded streets, and also, this is part of what breeds mosquitoes. You might see that simple act as being inconsequential, but it leads to critically important things.
– When you disobey a traffic sign, including driving one way, you turn yourself into a risk to the lives of others. Maybe to you, your life is not important and you have suicide on your mind. But committing suicide is a selfish and also wicked act.
– As a government official, when you misappropriate the funds in your care, you activate a chain of events that lead to loss of lives of fellow Nigerians which might even include your loved ones or yourself. These wicked acts lead to poorly equipped hospitals, bad roads, no electricity and a number of other things.
– As a resident on a street, when you are always being forced to pay your security dues, you’re a bad person. The security guards making sure you have a beautiful night’s rest stay awake through the night. Sometimes they are in the rain, feeling cold and lonely. They also have a family. But by a stroke of fate, that security job is what they have found to sustain their families, thus they go to work every night, leaving their families at home to go ensure that others are safe. It is the height of wickedness to imagine the N500 or N1,000 you don’t pay monthly might not mean anything.
– Lusting after another man’s wife and then going ahead to perfect your thoughts is utterly wicked. You might think this has nothing to do with a country, but it has a whole lot to do with it. When family settings are disorganized, it affects the society in a number of ways. Some children end up becoming menaces to the society because of their troubled family background. So, if you’re a boss using your position to oppress those below you, or in a position to give jobs to others, and use that opportunity to philander with them, you are a wicked person.
– When you sit at home, and imagine that you are not needed in the selection process of the political reps in your ward, you are being indirectly wicked, most especially when you have what it takes to be the best political rep in that area and fail to present yourself because you think politics is a dirty game.
There are quite a number of other things, and I’m sure that deep in your heart, you know what I’m talking about. Whatever it is you do in your closet that might be a drawback to our country, please amend your ways so that things may be well with our country.
Pray for Nigeria daily, and then drop those wicked acts.
Have a Fruitful Friday!
TK – 2018