I’m just thinking

I am Just Thinking….

nigerian_flag

I am so disturbed by the current debate going on in our country, especially among the body of Christ or what we call ‘believers’. There is such a strong debate as to who should rule over the nation and the divide is simply along religious lines. Honestly this looks innocent and well meaning enough, but looking deeper into the matter, one begins to see a strong delusionary trend. When did the church of Jesus Christ begin to look to the political world to solve our national issues? What has happened to the Church in Nigeria? Have we become so apostate that we really do not understand our role as the agents of change in our society? Or is it that we have been lulled into this deep slumber by the Delilah of money and the Jezebel of materialism, that we have become blind and powerless? I am just thinking….
Let me say this in the most unequivocal way, the future of Nigeria is not in the hands of any political party or politician. The ‘broom’ will not sweep and the ‘umbrella’ cannot cover. GEJ or GMB are not our messiahs. The learned Pastor as good as he is cannot solve the problems of Nigeria. I say this with every sense of responsibility. We are setting these people up for a fall. We are placing on them a task that is way beyond the scope and power of any single person to accomplish. I am just thinking….
Jeremiah 17:5-6 states “Thus says the Lord:
“Cursed is the man who trusts in man
And makes flesh his strength,
Whose heart departs from the Lord.
For he shall be like a shrub in the desert,
And shall not see when good comes,
But shall inhabit the parched places in the wilderness,
In a salt land which is not inhabited”
The problem of Nigeria was not created exclusively by GEJ, OBJ, IBB or whoever else we want to call in these popular three initialled craze going on now, though none of them can be absolved of complicity in the matter. YAI is also a major contributor. YAI (You and I). Our problems have been developing over many generations and the biggest culprit is the Church. How can a nation with the largest church on earth, the biggest prayer meetings, the greatest evangelistic meeting in the history of the church, and one of the country’s with the greatest number of professing Christians globally, estimated at about 50 percent, be in such moral and economic decay? How can we who are called Children of God sink so low as to now look to political messiahs to solve a problem that is squarely on the shoulders of the church? Who is the custodian of truth, integrity and morality in a society? Whose job is it to uphold and model it? Who has been charged by God to be salt and light? I am just thinking….
Please do not misunderstand me, I respect our leaders and I want righteous leadership. But it just so happens that leaders are a reflection of the people they lead. If the people are righteous, then a wicked ruler or an unrighteous leader will not emerge. It is an impossibility. Our leaders are us. Pure and simple. I am just thinking….
This is the kernel of the matter. You and I as believers have become so secularised. We call bad good and good bad. We love money. We worship at the altar of mammon, hedonism and hubris. We are immoral. We are decadent. We are extortionists and peddlers. We profess Christ, but He is not our Lord; Because He is either Lord of all your life or He is not Lord at all. Many so-called believers in Christ have gone down the altar to accept the Christ as their saviour, but refuse to bow to His Lordship. We, yes, you and I are the problem of Nigeria and we should face this fact sooner than later.

Jeremiah 17: 7-10
“Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord,
And whose hope is the Lord.
For he shall be like a tree planted by the waters,
Which spreads out its roots by the river,
And will not fear when heat comes;
But its leaf will be green,
And will not be anxious in the year of drought,
Nor will cease from yielding fruit.
“The heart is deceitful above all things,
And desperately wicked;
Who can know it?
I, the Lord, search the heart,
I test the mind,
Even to give every man according to his ways,
According to the fruit of his doings”

Rather than these heavy political rallies and billions of dollars expended on whipping up sentiments and trying to convince people of a future that is at best an illusion, we as the body of Christ should go into mass repentance. We should call solemn assemblies and weep between the porch and the altar. We should ask for God’s forgiveness and receive His grace and power to turn away from sin and live in righteousness. We should purge ourselves of the sin that has overtaken all of us and stay there till the grace of sanctification is released. We should stop talking about material prosperity if we cannot teach about spiritual prosperity. We should call for radical disciples of Jesus Christ, rather than preach an easy faith that denies the realities of the cross. We should all comeback to the reality of Coram Deo. I am just thinking….
2 Chronicles 7:14 states “If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves, pray and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, will forgive their sins and Heal their land.”
He never gave the job of national restoration to any politician or political party, because he does not hold them accountable. If 75 million Nigerians, all turn from sin and say no to bribery and corruption. No to immorality. No to materialism. No to lying and deception. No to robbery. No to disorderliness. No to stealing. No to injustice. No to mediocrity and no to oppression. What type of nation would we have? What type of government will we have? Can you see the folly and the error? We have put the cart before the horse. I am just thinking….
Are you guilty of destroying this nation? What part are you playing in tearing it down? If this nation is to change, it must start with you. Yes, you child of God.
I certainly have played my part, now I chose to repent and turn. I ask God to forgive me. I confess my part in making this nation the way it is. I am ready to change. I am ready to help build a nation where truth and righteousness reigns.
I am just thinking, but perhaps God will use these musings of a believer to ignite something in just one more heart today.
I believe in Jesus Christ and His power to redeem a lost soul. I also believe He is the only one who can turn a nation round, because He holds all power in His mighty hands.
I am just thinking…..

4 thoughts on “I’m just thinking

  1. Pastor Charles, it is as if you saw into the future! I kept saying the same thing, that our help (as a Nation) is in the Lord and not any man. The events that have unfolded in the last 2 years corroborate this. The arm of flesh has failed yet again, simply because scriptures cannot be broken!
    The clarion call for repentance is still as relevant today as it was when this piece was written.
    I am just thinking, hoping and praying that the Church (the bride of Christ, for whom HE shed His Blood) will heed this call and take its rightful place.
    Shalom!

  2. Thank you sir for this spirit-inspired message. I wish every Nigerian could read and reflect honestly on this word. A nation cannot become great if its people lack a moral core. We are prostrate on the altar of money. That is the mammon destroying this nation. And ‘The Church,’ – the moral compass, has lost its way. Unfortunately. Our land needs revival, and you are right, it will happen only in our individual convicted hearts.

Leave a Reply