TOPIC: MY DISTRACTIONS, MY DESTRUCTION
TEXTS: ECL. 12:13-14; 1COR.9:24-27; 2TIM. 2:4-5; HEB. 12:1-2.
TEACHER: BROTHER SUNDAY EFFIONG
INTRODUCTION
God’s overriding purpose for creating man was, is still, for the reason of worshipping Him, obeying Him and keeping His commandments. This is the whole duty of man, and the conclusion of every discussion about man. (Ecl.12:13-14). Any other activities different from these rules are mere distractions. Man, God’s creature, has designed various activities and programs to ensure that life is meaningful and worth living. In the course of these activities, many become distracted from the purpose of creation, to satisfy their lusts. Man has designed various professions and vocations to engage life and make a living out of it. These designs have given rise to accountants, lawyers, medical doctors, nurses, pharmacists, preachers, ministers, lecturers, bishops, deacons, drivers, presidents, governors, legislators, judges, and many more others. These are arrangements made for administrative conveniences and solutions to life’s challenges.
These lines of duty do not distract any man from the purpose of creation, per se, but the application of himself (man) to these duties determines man’s distractions and man’s destruction. In a nutshell, we are on an errand here on earth for God, our creator.
CHRISTIANS ARE ON ERRAND ON EARTH.
Many of us have fallen victims of being sent on an errand by our parents only to get carried away by other things and forget the message we were sent.
A boy was sent by his hungry father to urgently buy him food from a restaurant. On his way going, he was in a hurry because of the urgency of the assignment. However, on his way back, he stumbled on where his school mates were playing football. He slowed down, began to watch, gradually slowing down until he finally stopped. He watched for a while and got carried away. He became interested, and his schoolmates beckoned on him, knowing his mastery of the round leather game. He accepted their request and indicated an interest in playing. He was ushered into the pitch.
He left the food in the care of one of the spectators, also a former schoolmate, and entered the pitch. He forgot his assignment completely and played his heart out. He became the man of the match, scored goals, dribbled opponents, created chances, and changed the tide of the entire game in favor of the side he played for. When the game time was over, the owner of the ball picked it up. It was time for everyone to go home; to go back to their parents. *THE GAME WAS OVER!*
Everyone left, and ‘our friend’ remembered for the first time that he was actually sent to buy food by a hungry father. He went to where he kept the food; it was already eaten by goats. “But I kept this food with somebody here”, he lamented. But no one was there to answer him. He picked up the plates, but was no longer happy. All the excitements of the game disappeared, the people clapping for him were all gone, those that invited him and his admirers were all gone, those that carried him up after each goal he scored were all gone, those that passed the ball to him to score were no more on the pitch, the opponents he was struggling to beat were all gone, the ball itself was gone, time was gone too, those selling food were equally gone. He couldn’t go to buy another food even if he had the money.
Regrets took him over; he sluggishly walked home with tears of sorrow and regrets hiding in the dark. When people saw him, they queried why he was crying and hiding in the dark with empty plates. HE LEFT WITH CLEAN EMPTY PLATES FULL OF EXCITEMENTS, BUT RETURNED WITH SAME EMPTY PLATES, NOW STAINED AND FULL OF REGRETS. When passersby asked him, “Why can’t you go home?” He replied, “My father will beat me.” He realized the implications of a wasted time, so sad, so late.
We have a home and a Father to return to after living here on earth as pilgrims and sojourners. In this story, we have the active characters.
ACTIVE CHARACTERS:
The boy – me and you,
The caretaker: Our parents, our friends, our confidants, our ministers, our advisers, our elders, our sisters/brothers, indeed anybody in a position to advise us but fails to.
The ball: All attractions in the world. They are not bad by nature, but may become bad based on when and how we make use of them.
The owner of the ball – God Almighty
The waiting father – God Almighty
The spectators/cheering crowd: The world.
THE CARETAKER
Many of us behave just like the food caretaker, or sometimes worst. We refuse to advise our friends against evils and wrongdoings. Parents refuse to advise their wards against wrong associations and wrong wealth acquisition, and the children refuse to advise their parents. Some churches and members place their wealthy members above other brethren, without bordering about the sources of their wealth. The pews ignore and refuse to advise the pulpit, even in the open glare of faults and evils. Bible teachers refuse to advise their colleagues against evils, deacons refuse to advise elders, and the elders refuse to advise the deacons. The deacons refuse to advise their fellow deacons, and the elders refuse to advise their fellow elders. The minister refuses to advise the leadership, and the leadership does not see the need to advise the minister. The lecturers refuse to advise the students, and the students refuse to advise the lecturers. The presidents/governors refuse counseling and their subordinates see no need of advising them. (2John 1:9-11; Gal.6:1). In ignoring our advisory role, we are distracted by what destroys us. Most of us in advisory positions are excellent advisers but very poor adherers to even our own pieces of advice. (Matt.23:3-4; 7:5)
Don’t be distracted from your mission; don’t rejoice when people clap for you while pleasing them against the will of the Father. Don’t get excited when people project you and use you to champion the wrong courses. Don’t accept to continue pleasing them because you want to be relevant. The game will soon be over. The owner of the ball will soon disappear with his ball. All will be gone when the game is over, and you will have to face your Father all alone to give account.
Avoid distractions, avoid a wasted life, and don’t be deceived when they clap for you while defending their wrong agenda. We are sent here for an assignment, the Father is waiting…, when the hour comes, the game will be over, and the owner of the ball will pick it up and go, the crowd that clapped for you will disappear. We will be left alone to go back and give account of how we spent our lives.
CONCLUSION
Distraction remains a scourge and undermines our spiritual productivity to an astonishing degree. When we are focused on the Christian race, and are spiritually fired up, we will surely achieve the purpose of our creation. (Heb.12:1-2).