To serve with conscience
By Patrick Enilama [pastorpatrick@sunnewsonline.com]
I am sure the conscience of the immediate past Inspector General of Police
Mr. Sunday Ehindero is now at work. Had he listened to his conscience as he left
for retirement he would have been a happier man in retirement.
We hear at
the order of Mr. President Mr. Ehindero is being probed over N21m which his aides
tried to smuggle out of Force Head quarters in Abuja. We must learn to listen
to our conscience. What is conscience?
Conscience is a small playback of the
still small voice that told you not to do it in the first place. Conscience is
the you that God has ordained to police your destiny. Conscience is the custodian
of your destiny.
Ignore the small still voice you throw your destiny in
jeopardy. He who has a fight with his conscience and loses, wins. The nagging
conscience learns to live with the evils it cannot cure. Conscience like a pencil
needs o be sharpened occasionally. We must learn to live with our conscience.
And living with a conscience is like driving a car with the brakes on.
LEVELS
OF CONSCIENCE
i.Good Conscience: I Tim. 1:19 "Holding faith and a good
conscience while some having put away concerning faith have made shipwreck. When
you put away your conscience you make a ship wreck of your destiny.
ii.Pure
Conscience: I Tim. 3:9 Holding the mystery of the faith in pure conscience. There
are some people no matter the temptation of office lucre / power holds their conscience
in purity. They cannot stain their hands nor smear their family name, These category
of people "lie not their conscience bear them witness Rm. 9:1.
Some other
people do not have clear conscience when it comes to money matter. They ignore
the small still voice of God in them. They do not allow their conscience to bear
witness in them Rm. 2:15. As far as they are concerned the end justify the means.
They can do just anything to have their needs met. We should keep our conscience
healthy. Without a functioning conscience no life is secured.
WEAK CONSCIENCE
I Cor. 8:16 Those who have weak conscience can easily be pressured to take
a line of action they may later regret all the days of their life. All the crises
we have had and we still have as a nation is traceable to dead conscience. This
category of people can be pressured against their conscience to do what ordinarily
they should not do.
DEFILED CONSCIENCE
Titus 1:15 unto the pure all
things are pure but unto them that are defiled and unbelieving is nothing pure;
but even their mind and conscience is defiled. A defiled conscience has no room
for a rethink. He must have his way. He can steal or kill if need be.
EVIL
CONSCIENCE
Heb. 10:22 "let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance
of faith, having our heart sprinkled from evil conscience. When evil conscience
is at work, good is seen as evil. Evil is seen as good.
DEAD CONSCIENCE
I Tim. 4:2 "speaking lies in hypocracy; having their conscience seared
with a hot iron. Those who operate a dead conscience do not look back. Majority
of these people with dead conscience are policemen. Black is white and white is
black. Give a police money he can cover you up even when you are guilty.
But
the God who raised Lazarus from the dead can raise those with dead conscience
to good / pure conscience.