NEGLECTING OUR TREASURE.
…Help came calling from an unusual angle. My grandmother while searching through some of the personal belongings of my uncle, who just came back from studying in France and in England, discovered some rather reliable ropes that served us well at the end of the day. The only problem was as we later discovered, the so called ropes that we had used for the past three years tying our sacks, and bringing home our cassava tubers, were later recognized as some Exclusive French Ties, that my uncle had brought from his years of sojourn in Europe.
He had left them in the village in hope that his younger ones would appreciate them, as they leave the village to travel to study in colleges, universities or even overseas. But since I was as ignorant as my old grandmother, none of us quite understood the meaning of his kind gesture. We had some highly prized possessions in those ties, but due to ignorance, the ties soon became totally unrecognizable because of dirt and smell from the local farm.
Unfortunately that is how most of us have treated life – our lives!!! We have just all of a sudden discovered that here we are, with something called life seemingly precious, but not deeply appreciated. So we end up treating it the way we deem fit.
“So teach us to number our days that we may gain a heart of wisdom”. Ps. 90:12
Whenever you possess something, but lack the understanding of its value, there are some consequences you suffer:
1. YOU NEGLECT THE TREASURE
Just like in the story we just read, because I and my grandmother did not know what ties were, those ties had suffered negligence, long before they were taken to the farm. The same thing with life. Most people do not take care of their lives, because they don’t value life. Most people neglect their lives and allow all kinds of accidents, mishaps and misfortunes to happen to them. Neglect is a major reason for some of the most painful experiences we suffer in life. In some cases we neglect our health, because we were never told about its value. Some neglect their virginity and are made to pay dearly for it.
For example when I came to Europe, to me it was a great escape – the great escape from poverty. Since I grew up in a condition where I could not afford to buy myself a bottle of juice or coca cola while in Africa. I basically could afford only water. As a result, juice and coca cola was a luxury.
On getting to Europe, I discovered that there were so many varieties of soft drinks and juices that I had never ever seen or dreamed about before. My conclusion was simple and straight forward. I decided to embark on a journey of vengeance for all the years of my deprivation, I made a decision to let go of water. For the next seven years I did not bother to drink a cup of water. I was filling my system and body with all kinds of sweet and sugar drinks in the name of avenging poverty.
The only thing that made me to realize that I was on a suicidal path, was thanks to my involuntary visit to the doctor. Where I was confronted with the fact that water actually was a lifeline, which every human must drink two liters of daily.
My health suffered neglect. My life was in danger, just because I did not know the value of water. I didn’t know the importance of water to my very life. I almost lost my most precious value – Life, because of ignorance and negligence. So many of us are causing pain and suffering to ourselves on daily basis, because we do not know the value of life.
To be continued tomorrow with the following point:
- The Second consequence of neglecting your treasure
FOR THE LOVE OF GOD, CHURCH AND NATION
By Pastor Sunday Adelaja.
