The Big Little Thing...

     So my day started today, caught between two strait betwixt - whether to turn on the generator or not. If you know anything about Nigeria, you should know that every household needs an alternative power source, for some reason our national grid does not seem to hold enough power to ensure a consistent power supply.

         Now, you know a bit about Nigeria (in case you're don't), though not a pretty site but with the number of houses (a population of about 200million about 50 to 60million or more live in urban areas/ civilized towns, they can afford a generator), coupled with the number vehicles on our roads (we like luxury too and an average household with a car has at least two, much more in some cases especially if you are a politician). If anything, we know our abundant crude oil is still going to have a market to supply for a longtime (electric vehicles will struggle in Nigeria for now).

          My point is, when I woke up after saying my prayers and praising Jesus of course, I started having some not so good thoughts about our political leaders. Not to boast but Nigeria is probably the most blessed country in the world, you see, we have everything, from countless innovative minds (amazing human talents, you literally see geniuses everywhere, it's amazing...)  to large reserves of countless mineral resources (gold, copper...etc). In the midst of all this, Nigeria, once the most promising developing nation after independence now has every citizen becoming his/her own government (we provide our own water, electricity, we often construct our community roads too and the list gone on).

         So back to my "this morning mind discourse" I blamed the government our leaders, the president, governors and do you know we have local government chairmen/chairwomen and councilors, it's amazing, we have leaders everywhere and nothing happens to improve much. Now, I will not be saying the truth if I say they are all bad but most of them are, there are of course a few good men/women now and then but it's a swamp out there people.

          The truth, the obvious truth, however, is leaders are a reflection of the people, of course I will not be so reckless to say we are all corrupt as a people but the "good eggs" see politics as a messy dirt that will stain their purity/integrity...politicians here still steal in billions of dollar (not Naira, our local currency) day in day out even in recession. Anyways you get the point, so back to my "this morning mind monologue" again. I realized in my not so deep meditation that nobody starts their lives stealing billions, it starts with the little things, from the way we live as a family. The kitchen table discussions but more than that the way we act toward each other in the family, how we treat our house helps (it's pretty common here, I think it's on the decline though but still much), the gatemen, janitors/cleaners in our offices and funny thing, junior staffs with the exact same qualifications as us.

          I believe it all starts with the heart, if we don't value people, embezzling or stealing billions of dollars is the least of our problems. It starts with the way we see the other person regardless of who they are, if we don't see people as humans with lives like ours and our children, in the course of time our corruption will metamorphous into real life cannibalism, not a doomsday prophesy, just Newton's law of motion. An object continues in steady state of motion until a contrary force acts against it.

       My submission is, corruption in the Nigerian society and indeed the world at large is a symptom of a deeper, more devastating problem and I can promise you, literal human cannibalism is just one of many things that will unfold in societies with unchecked corruption (kidnapping, murder, human rituals/sacrifice is on the rise here too). Judging by the natural proclivity of man's heart to be wicked (if you think our politicians are bad you need to see what goes on in our cooperate circle), for me the conclusion of the matter is we need Jesus and here is why... He (Jesus) said that He will change our hearts when we believe in Him, in His exact words " I will give you a heart of flesh in place of your heart of stone"  The funny thing is believing in Him isn't rocket science, you only say a simple prayer that goes this way Lord Jesus I believe you died for my sins on the cross of Calvary and I open my heart to you right now, please come in and be my Lord and saviour. That's it and you wait to see what happens, He (Jesus) will take it from there . You will be surprised, I promise.

     If our hearts are changed as Jesus promised then love and compassion comes naturally. In an uncanny way stress, fear, anger, anxiety, frustration gets melted away, and He replaces it with overwhelming joy. Imagine being happy every single second of everyday regardless of the situation around you, that's the heart that Jesus gives. I know it sounds too good to be true but this is how millions if not billions of genuine Christians across the world live daily. How can anybody be corrupt or wicked with this heart, totally impossible right? In case you don't feel this way yet or you are curious about the possibility of this actually happening to you, why not just ask Jesus, trust me He is closer than you think, He will answer you (He's pretty creative too, He answers us all uniquely and sometimes when and where you least expect). By the way the only requirement you need to talk to Him is just your believe, He will handle the rest, just call on Him today and He will answer.