OCCUPY THAT TERRITORY (1)

In Zoology, a territory is an area that an animal considers its own. Not only that, the animal defends that area or territory against intruders, especially of the same species.

In commerce, a territory is a region or district that an agent covers. The area is assigned to a sales representative to function and make sales for the company he or she represents.

Coming down to us as young people who are on campuses, lives in communities, works in organizations and worships in churches or fellowships, we want you to know that you are occupying a territory wherever you are. Drawing from the definition of territory in the commerce sense, we can deduce that we are agents of our Master (Jesus) where we are right now. Now, the question is, are we in control of that territory. Have we fully occupied that territory? If Yes, good; if No, why?

I will not forget in a hurry the story of a lady who gained admission into one of the higher institutions in Nigeria. As she stepped into one of the classrooms, she decreed that she would emerge as the best student in that class and it was so. With a dint of hard work and God on her side, she turned off the intruders of failure and distractions and occupied that territory. 

As a representative of the Master, are you a force to reckon with where you are? How outstanding are you among your peers in the class or office. How good are you on that job? I remember the story of one of my loved ones who went to United Kingdom for his Masters degrees. On getting there, he was unable to get a part time job on time. A very smart guy who is sound academically, he did not waste time in occupying that area.

According to him, once he realized that his classmates did not have a firm grip on what was being taught in class, (but he did) he told them he would organize tutorial classes for them on those difficult subjects, but they would pay him. They agreed to what he said and that was his first job in UK. Again this man occupied his territory by wading off lukewarmness and self-pity.

What are you doing in that office or school? Occupying or just folding your hands and doing nothing. Being idle will not take you far, especially if you cross your legs only to wait for a perfect situation. Remember the story of talents in Matthew 25? The man who collected one talent buried it and when His Master returned there was no profit to show forth. Even what he was given was taken from him. We must take over as young people.

Please get me right. We are not talking of carrying guns, bows, arrows and detonating bombs like terrorists who are wasting lives and properties. Taking over territories is about being a positive influence and a force to reckon with. As a youth mentor teenagers; as a teen mentor pre-teens and occupy them with positive things which can bring changes.

I once shared my experience at the female toilet of the Faculty of Social Science, University of Ibadan with us in this column; kindly permit me to mention it again. Immediately you enter the well kept toilet and find your way into the rest room with the door neatly closed, your eyes cannot miss the writings on the door such as, ‘Abstinence is the way out of AIDS’ ‘are you born again’ ‘Jesus loves you’ ‘it’s good to be a virgin’ etc. Do you know what those who wrote those things did? They took over that area of jurisdiction before anyone whose heart is not regenerated would come and write rubbish and nonsense at the back of that door.

You know what? Only smart and strong people take over territories. I mean people whose eyes are opened to see what ordinary eyes would not see and those who are alert to discern between good and evil. It’s time to take over positively.

Kindly expect the second part of this article

How Zealous Are You?

My heart ached when I heard the news that the suicide bomber at the Government Comprehensive Senior Science Secondary School, Potiskum, Yobe State was a teenager.

From reports, it was disclosed that the students were on the assembly, waiting to hear the principal's daily address when the explosion happened, just before 8am. As at press time, the number of deaths recorded were 48, while 79 were injured.

Is it not absurd that in this great nation of ours, a teenager would be so ignorantly zealous to have an explosive that he knew would take his life and that of other citizens?

As if that was not enough, just some days after this incident, a female suicide bomber struck at the Federal College of Education, Kontagora, Niger State, killing herself and injuring three others.

You know what? These two young people displayed unflagging enthusiasm for this cause, although they were ignoramus. They were indoctrinated and promised what they would never see, enjoy or inherit but they believed anyway and even death was not a minus for them with the lies they lived for; they lived and died in ignorance.

The pain in my heart however is, how zealous are our teenagers and youths in the faith and in most things pertaining to God. Some Sundays ago, I called two wonderful young people who loved to disappear from the Sunday school class and reappear when the teacher is almost through with the class. Unfortunately when you size some of them up spiritually, they are far from what is expected of them.

How often do our young people organize evangelism programmes within and outside their immediate vicinity just to reach out to unsaved souls? How much of God do some of them know, not to talk of going out to preach what they know to others?

I remember the day one of our Sunday school teachers pointed our attention to the fact that some young people who belonged to a particular sect have ‘prayed’ so much that their forehead already has a mark. There is also another sect that moves around with their young people (mostly on Saturdays) to preach what we born again Christians know is heresy yet, we do not see our young ones who know the truth move from house to house several times to tell people the truth they know.

King David said, the zeal of your house has consumed me. How zealous are you as a young fellow. How many people know you and operate with you based on that faith which you profess. How many people do you preach to in a week and how many souls have you won for Christ since you came to the saving grace of Christ?

Are you known among your classmates, colleagues, and people in your community as a Christian who would not compromise or you are seen as that guy that follows his parents to church but we do not see any major difference in your life?

How enthusiastic are you about the things of God. Are you a role model or you just play church. Do you challenge other young people around you positively or all what you do is move with the crowd.

How passionate are you about God and His work. Can you boldly say that the zeal of the house of God has consumed you? What is your relationship with God like? Is it a hush hush relationship or what? How much of the Bible do you have in your heart and how do we see those words in your life? Are you still being cajoled to fast and pray?

I desire that there will be a revival in the lives of our young people so that as they stand out academically, professionally etc, they will also stand out for God and the kingdom assignment.

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KNOWN FOR WHAT?

A woman travelled outside Nigeria for a short holiday, but still went out of her way to get some gifts for her extended family with the house-helps not left out of the largesse. According to her, she learnt this from one of her aunts whom whenever she travelled abroad would always bring gifts for them when they were young. The gifts may be small but it would be durable and it would always go round. That was one of the things her aunt was known for.

On the other hand, there was this young lady that I met some time ago who shared a bit of her past with me. According to her, there was this ‘big aunty’ who lived in her neighbourhood who introduced her to wild life. She said regrettably that in her hay days, this big aunty would take her out to parties, clubs and of course introduce her to men. 

Before long, she became pregnant for one of the men who later took to his heels and left her with the responsibility of nursing the child. While recounting her wayward lifestyle which she felt was enjoyment then, the role the big aunty played came vividly into the big picture of her past. Unfortunately, the big aunty was not around to help. Her situation became pathetic because she did know where exactly her life was heading to, but God came to her rescue when she came to the saving grace of the Lord Jesus Christ.

What are we known for? A rebel or conformist; a lover of peace or troublemaker; a model or atypical! What are we actually living for? Do we rejoice in evil or we are always out to do good and make sure that others who are down or lowly are lifted because of the wonderful roles we played in their lives.

In the real sense of it, are we known for virtue or vice? For instance, some people are known to always give gifts that are not good to others. Someone told me of a woman who specializes in giving stale bread, expired milk etc to people who come to her home on a visit or for one thing or the other. She is so good at this that people attested to it. Of what use is a gift that has no use!

For some of us, our second name is arrogance. Nobody can satisfy us as we see ourselves as the best and others as ignoramus. So much pride is in us that we never appreciate others and the sterling qualities that make them unique. We are too high to reckon with the lowly in our classes, campuses, organizations, families and communities. 

For some of us, the words of our mouths betray us. By the time we make just two sentences, our speech betray us as pride is lined up in the sentences. Apart from pride, some of us pull down others easily by what we say. What a fruitless life! That life is fruitless because God resist the proud but gives grace to the humble.

What of some of us who are gossips. No information flies around without our knowledge; in actual fact, some of us play God as we want others to know that we had the news about a person, event etc before anyone else. We call these people, information without wire. It is bad that many people have associated some of us with this vice; it is even worse that some of us take pride in this depravity. The book of proverbs says, the talk of the lips tend to penury. You know what? A gossip will not be paid a dime for his/her gossip business; the least level of appreciation open to that fellow is thank you from an ungrateful heart!

What are you known for? This is a pertinent question we must ask ourselves. Of what use is a life that cannot influence others positively. Of what use is a life that is associated with laziness alone without any remorse from the culprit.

Young people should be known for their zeal which cannot be traded for anything because that is their season of strength. Apostle John said, I write to you young men because you are strong. Let us arise as builders and channel our strength towards upbeat tasks.   

Enough of playing into the gallery; our virtues will bring more people to our savior and transform many from bad to good. Let us be known as young leaders who brought light into a dark world.

 

Talk is cheap!

I do not really like wrestling as a sport because I feel the pain that goes into the sport is more than the reward. That’s on a personal note anyway. However, I find a lot of fun in listening to the contestants in a wrestling competition when they are promoting each other before the actual contest.

One of the wrestlers would show so much muscle to frighten his opponent and make so much noise with his mouth about how he would defeat his opponent when they get into the ring. The opponent too comes up and he opens his mouth to talk so much about himself and how he would defeat his opponent few minutes into the game. So who will be the winner with all the accolades each wrestler has showered on himself. Most of the time, the wrestler who makes the loudest noise is often the loser! 

Again, another good example of cheap talk is those who do not know how to drive at all but makes so much noise while they drive in thin air. Most of the time, when you are driving and they sit in the car with you, they will begin to control you as to how to manoeuvre the steering; sometimes it can be annoying for the driver especially when there is a traffic jam. Now, tell those people to take over the wheels and you will realize that they will recluse immediately. 

Talk is indeed cheap! However, to be a dynamic young person goes beyond cheap talk. It is a time to roll up one’s sleeve and make sure that a round peg finds its way into a round hole. It is not enough to go round in circles all through the year without anything tangible to point at, yet one’s mouth is always explaining how things can be done.

Are you in a place where things are not done in the proper way? Instead of sitting down to talk down about your leader or another fellow, why don’t you show the way to get that thing done? That was what David did. He saw that army generals and all their lieutenants were eaten up by fear and totally confused. Instead of castigating them with his mouth and joining in their helpless state, he asked a few questions and faced the enemy. Of course, the enemy who had made so much noise was defeated with just stones by David who relied on His God.

We need young people who can take the bull by the horn. We are not looking for those who only want to show muscles and rattle away. We need those who are ready for action.

Considering the number of youths we have in this nation, one wonders what is really happening to them and their impact upon our nation. Remember that the holy book says, the glory of young men is their strength, where is the mental strength, physical strength, innovations, inventions put in place by our young minds.

We do not want to read articles of what a young person can do alone; we want to see exploit in our nation. It is time to arise and put in place conscious efforts that will build our nation. We want more young people to make waves in different spheres. What is the use of a life without an impact? Let us achieve a feat. Apostle Paul in 1 Corinthians 4:20 said, ‘For the kingdom of God consists of and is based on not talk but power (moral power and excellence of soul). (AMP.) Sometimes, I have this feeling that we talk too much and we do not see enough evidence of our talk. The above quotation told us that the kingdom business is not about talk alone but manifestation of power and excellence.

How often do we manifest the power of God in our lives? This is because it is when the power is in you that it can be transferred to others around you. Some of us cannot even heal headache not to talk of laying our hands on another person who is sick.

Again when we talk of excellence how often do we see this in our lives as young people? It is an irony that we who ought to shine as lights seem to be lost in the multitude. Check some of our phones; even though we say it with the word of mouth that we are Christians, our ring tones and caller tunes are saying different things entirely.

Where is the excellence in our academics, career, social life, etc. where is the power of distinction in our lives. Get up and do something and talk less. Remember that Prov 14:23, says, in all labour there is profit but the talk of the lips tend to penury.