| Why I don’t run
after
By NJOKU ONYEKACHI JET
Wednesday, March 13, 2007
 |
• Adedapo Lewis
Photo: Sun News Publishing |
|
Mr. Adedapo O. Lewis, the principal assistant registrar and
secretary, Lagos State University, says he is a nominal Christian whose life is
guided by the tenets of his religion. To him, the occurrence of miracles as well
as the activities of fake prophets does not make him lose sleep. He describes
his relationship with his God as a holistic kind of relationship
Relationship
I am a nominal Christian. I go to
church once in a while, but try as much as I can to live within the tenets of
the Christian religion. I believe strongly in God as being responsible for my
successes and failures. This informs my relationship with Him as well as my fellow
man. With God, it is a father-son and friend-friend relationship. There are times
when we deviate from His commands. At such moments, it is a servant-master relationship.
Prayer
Just
as money is said to answer all things, Prayer answers all things too. It has the
potency to bring down any form of barrier or wall and it does this when said with
a broken spirit and a contrite heart.
Tithe
A lot of people will tell you
to pay tithe, but there is nowhere it is written in the Bible that we should pay
tithe. Payment means, for instance, you see a car you like, find out the price
and pay to purchase it. Tithe is your minimum that you are asked to bring to God’s
house. God enables us to make wealth and provides for all our needs, this is the
basis for tithing.
Miracle
We were told that prior to creation, the
world was void and God made the world by issuing out commands. This, I believe,
is miracle. On the sixth day He made us in His image and likeness. If it is true
we were made in his image and likeness, simply put, we ourselves are miracle.
However, I am not addicted to miracle, I do not run after miracle and I do not
see it as an end in itself.
Fake prophets
How can we identify a fake
or genuine one? More often than not, I do not like discussing these issues from
the angle of an educated person. Sometimes I am indifferent. During the apostles’
era, when there were wrangling over a different group preaching in Christ’
name, Paul’s advise that even if Christ is preached out of envy or deceit,
the most important thing is that Christ is been preached. Sometimes, I am guided
by this belief.
Before the commencement of the last world cup, a man who
called himself a prophet predicted that something miraculous would happen. He
had said there would be much confusion in FIFA and Nigeria would be called in
to play. Then I wondered what kind of confusion that would be. These are some
of the issues that do not belong to the miraculous. It is a different thing if
Nigeria had qualified and he said God showed him that Nigeria would win the world
cup. Or maybe it happens that the Angolan team (God forbid) going to the world
cup had a crash and there was no way of raising a second team. At the end, we
all saw the outcome of it all. I don’t join issues when it comes to things
of the Spirit. What is important is that in the end, among a multitude, a few
will glorify God.
Even in deceit, they would encounter the miraculous.
Of course, this brings to mind the story of Jonah. As he tried running away from
the assignment God gave him, those in that ship, who were diviners and a host
of others who were on the way to destruction got saved. In effect, we were told
that in the last days, a lot of things will happen. Fake prophets will arise.
It is only those with the spirit of God that will discern. The fact is that they
will always be there.
Christ made mention of it when he said ‘your father
the devil’. Since the time of rebellion, God cast out and thrust him down.
And the Bible says that he has been prowling over the earth seeking for who to
devour. He will be till the day of judgment. |
