There was a man from the land of
Southern Africa, a man who was caught up by sin, a man driven by the pride of
life with the lust of the eyes and the lust of the flesh dictating the way he
conducted himself. He was not alone, many where driven by the same intensions.
There was a time when he believed that the joys of life were to be found in
wine, women and song; he was mistaken! It seemed to be the consensus of all who
ran with him. But before long God had mercy on his soul and opened his eyes to
the reality of it all. Every time he believe the lie by looking for fulfillment
in an arena that could never be quenched he eventually realized that lust could
never be satisfied. Of course it gratifies for a time but when it was over it
left him hollow inside. What was a man to do? The solution was an obvious one,
the call to repentance in and through the Lord Jesus Christ was the only
feasible answer. Praise God for this knowledge; sadly everyone will not come to
this realization. However God took pity on his soul and opened his eyes to the
truth of His intention for mankind. He finally understood that Jesus had paid
the price for his sin. It was an earth shattering eye opener. Praise God for
His mercy and for His willingness to reveal the truth to that man.
For a time, life was good and that man
pressed forward with great zeal with an amazing amount of liberty, serving God
and learning from Him through the lives of other likeminded men. A man who was
not given to too much study growing up as a child, had now became a man driven
with passion for the reading of God’s Word and the bible became his most tangible
treasured possession. But like most adventurous infants, he was a child full of
zeal with very little knowledge trying to make head and tail of it all and
sadly before long he found himself making erroneous errors being led away by
the lust of his flesh once again. The places he refused to frequent had now
begun to creep back into his life. Sin does that you know, it creeps up slowly
and if not dealt with effectively and efficiently before long it would have
subjugated its objective and that is to silence the Christian. A little leaven
works its way through the entire lump of dough affecting all of it. We must
never be fooled into believing that God will accommodate sin in our lives as
the norm and that our sin is tolerable. God so despised sin that He sent His Son
to die for it, so that those who find repentance in Him could go free.
But God who is rich in mercy once
again took pity on his soul and one night he woke up in hospital with a
shattered femur with weights dangling off the edge of his bed as he lay in
traction for six weeks. This then drove him once again to a place of repentance.
He had learnt a lesson the hard way. I wish I could say that this was the end
of the lessons he needed to learn but this was only the beginning. Now with one
leg an inch and a half shorter that the other one the lust of his eyes drove
him toward a woman that was in the throes of divorce. He fell into sin with her
and before long he was then diagnosed with HIV. Excepting the errors of his
ways he wanted to make right and under the counsel of his oversight they got
married. But before long they were divorced and he was back to his sinful ways
with wine, women and song once again driving him into foolishness. Although his
eyes had been opened to the true meaning of life, which he was unwilling to
push aside, he endeavored to live both lives with one foot in the Christian
faith and the other in the world. He was committed to Satan for the destruction
of his flesh. A serve punishment for his unruly behaviour and in hindsight he is
thankful for God’s affection and willingness to discipline him; although it was
extreme, he saw the beauty of its merits and once it had run its course it once
again ended up with a right relationship with his God; the mercies of God who
can measure them?
Years later after refusing to take
antiretrovirals for the AIDS virus he was on the verge of death, but God one
again graciously spared him his life and restored him into active membership
within the body of Christ (the church). It was a time of many fond memories
with God using him to speak into the lives of many teenage children as he
travelled across the country visiting various schools sharing his testimony on
the back of a book he had written highlighting God’s goodness in spite of his
rebellious heart.
There was a lot of work still to be
down in that man’s life and although he believed that he had learnt the lessons
needed to walk uprightly before a holy God he yet again slipped into error and
found a similar pattern materialize and he eventually found himself unequally
yoked with an unbeliever. Weary from so many mistakes he married that woman,
hoping that she would follow him in his faith.
This is what he has learnt; God is
pure, He is holy and He will never be manipulated. If we start with a mistake
it will always end badly. We must come God’s way and strip ourselves of our own
selfish sinful patterns if it is to end well for us. Repentance must be our
first point of call, nothing else will suffice! Do not believe any other voice
or lie, pay attention to this man’s plea for he has paid dearly to learn these
lessons and it needn’t be the same for you.
The man in question is divorced again
and now lives alone. Why would I expose and detail such stupidity from a single
man’s life. The answer is obvious. Regardless of so many mistakes, which have
had serve consequences; that man’s example has been a poor one, however even
his foolishness is no match for the goodness and power of God mercy, God can
bring even the most hardened of sinners to a place of repentance even if it
takes a lifetime for that to be realized. It divulges his goodness, in spite of
such recklessness and that man is now forever thankful to His God for such
unmerited favour. He is often saddened when he is reminded of his idiocy and
yet forever thankfully for the goodness of God that has found him out.
Signing off
Tyrone
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