Last Sunday in my church, we continued our Bible Study on the Lord God and the Reign of Peace by looking at the role of the Church in Nigeria in creating a Godly rule. Our focus for this week is Nation building; that is, the church has a role to play in Nation building.
Well, that concept is neither strange nor new to anybody who has been following the sub theme because the first topic we discussed was praying for leaders.
On that Sunday, we learnt that the assignment for the church to pray for those in authority is not optional but a commandment. We also saw that it’s prayers for leaders (not cursing them or grumbling) that makes us have peace in our society. 2 Timothy 2:1-4
So, take away for us from last Sunday School is that nation building is not the exclusive reserve of those appointed in positions of authority; it’s for anyone who comes from a home.
The basis for that study is that God has put everyone in homes and it’s as the Church gives attention to building every member of their homes that we export the right people into our society.
You know, it’s easy to talk about the evils in our society and point fingers at those responsible but often we lose consciousness of the fact that everyone who is involved in any evil behaviour in school, marketplace, office and public position came from a home under a parent or caregiver.
Parents and caregivers are not just people saddled with the responsibility of providing food, shelter and education for those under them, they have the all-important assignment of moulding children under their care.
That’s why in one of the texts we read, God inspired Solomon to pen down an instruction for us, “Direct your children onto the right path, and when they are older, they will not leave it.” Prov. 22:6 NLT
From this text, we find that contrary to what some parents say, children don’t just turn out anyhow God wants them; Children turn out the way their parents moulded them.
I have heard many older parents say things like, “It’s God that raises children” in a sense that absorbs them from their sole responsibility of how their children turn out.
From that text, we see that although children are gifts from God, the task of directing them the way they should go has been given to parents.
“But, are you saying God has no hand in how the child turns out?”
No, I never said that. In fact, to be able to do any and everything on this earth we need God. I mean we know that if God doesn’t watch over a city, the watchmen are staying awake for nothing; but that scripture didn’t say watchmen should abandon their duty posts because God is watching over a city. They must still watch!
My emphasis is that God has given you a duty post to occupy in raising your children and your job description is not just to pay rent at school and provide money for special chopping. It extends to MOULDING those children under your care and that’s one major important assignment you CANNOT abandon or delegate to a hireling in their dormitory or house helps!
Many of those who complain about how their children turned out after providing them with “everything” they need fail to understand that money is NOT everything a child needs to turn out right.
They either fail to understand or allow greed and ambition blind them to the fact that in addition to providing money, their children equally need the listening ear of their parents.
They assume that once they have paid expensive school fees, dormitory fees and dashed the hostel master some money, their children will be taken care of. They forget that the hostel master has his children at home and dozens of such children under his care and can only afford superficial attention on any particular child.
So, they abandon their children in the hands of people who are directing them in all kinds of ways and when they grow older, parents start wondering if their children came from their womb or witch coven.
For every father (and mother), our desire should be that as your wife is dropping another newborn in labour room, God will brag before the angels like He did about Abraham, “For I have known him, in order that he may command his children and his household after him, that they keep the way of the Lord, to do righteousness and justice, that the Lord may bring to Abraham what He has spoken to him.” Gen. 18:19 NKJV
People of God, it is when we realize that the young people who have become full-blown and shameless ashewos used to be very innocent children in church singing and acting drama during Children’s Sunday, that we understand that we can’t leave parenting to chance.
It’s easy to reject such by fire and cover your children with the blood but if you finish your rejection and covering without going back to your duty post with a renewed vigour for work, you are mocking God.
Guess what, the Bible said that God is not mocked that whatever a parents sows, he shall reap.
“Mr preacher, you think parenting is easy in today’s economy?”
Did I talk about it being easy? No, it’s not my sister. It’s work. That’s why wise parents who understand the gravity of this work shelves their ambition to make sure their children get adequate training.
They turn down job offers, some even reject transfers at the risk of losing their jobs and take less paying jobs just so that they will have time to ensure they carry out this assignment well.
Whatever you do as a parent, don’t lose sight of this important instruction: “Teach children how they should live, and they will remember it all their life.” Prov. 22:6 GNT
We’ll talk about this parenting matter in more detail later.
Now, back to the question many of us may be asking ourselves: wetin concern ordinary me with nation building?
You may not be a preacher that can preach against the sin of those in authority but you are a preacher who can mould your children with the word of God, one lesson at a time.
You may not be a teacher who will prepare the right lesson notes and deliver the lessons properly so that we won’t have O’level degree holders who can’t write simple letters, but in your home as a parent, you can make the law of regular study in your home and enforce it.
It’s not enough to say tufiakwa to the immorality propagated by satanic TV shows and wonder why the President can’t shut it down. Pay attention to how your children dress and use every power vested on you as a parent to stop your female children from going out naked and keep your boys from dressing like touts.
You may have seen that our nation has been destroyed because of the greed and selfishness of those in church authority and wonder what you can do in nation building. You can just self-examine yourself to see if greed and selfishness is guiding how you lead in your home, your workplace or even in your meeting of Ụmụada.
See, no matter how ordinary you think your life is, you can help build this nation by ensuring you are the voice of truth and justice. If you are invited to judge on a matter, if consideration for a favour someone has done for you or could do for you make you stand with the wrong person or group, you are not different from the judges who pervert justice because of bribes. When your rich child that’s always sending you money and gifts does wrong, make sure he or she collects the due reprimand. No matter what you stand to lose, always stand by the truth at all times.
For the amount of wealth we are blessed with in this nation, there is no reason for us to remain in lack. But we find that few greedy people steal our common wealth. You may not be able to police them but you can just ensure that you are not a party to forcefully taking over anybody’s land, admission, job offer, contract, promotion etc under your watch. That’s how you build the nation.
Wetin concern me in making education better; am I a Vice-Chancellor or Minister for Education?
You don’t have to be a Vice Chancellor or Minister for Education to help build our education. Just stop damaging children and start helping them build. You have paid for your children to use malpractice to write and pass WAEC, that’s EVIL! You are the teacher, principal or invigilator that facilitated this evil.
Confess your sin to God today, repent of it and for your other children, use the malpractice money to get private teachers to teach them early so that they can write A1 on their own. Principal, get your teachers to finish their scheme of work well and fix extra lessons for students so they can write their exams and stop parading fake certificates.
In fact, for everything you see as wrong in our nation, just ensure that in the subset of nations where you are the President, you don’t allow such a thing to thrive. That’s how to build the natin!
My point?
We all have a role to play in nation building and you don’t need a big title to be able to do that. Just do the little that has been committed into your hands in your little places and in doing that you make the nation where you preside the Nigeria we all pray to God for.
Let’s pray.
May God help us all to truly be His instruments in nation building in our homes, workplaces, churches and streets in Jesus’ name. Amen.
Regards,
Brother Ijay
For your feedback or questions, shoot me a mail at [email protected] or send me a WhatsApp message through +2348063967498. Better still drop your thoughts in the comment section below.
