A few good rascals

And I sought a man among them who should build up the wall and stand in the gap before Me for the land, that I should not destroy it, but I found none (Ez22:30 AMP) Ageing is an inevitable occurrence in life. We do not really have control over it. Though we manage it differently, but it cannot be stopped, slowed down or interrupted. The Message translation of Ecc11:10 say, youth lasts about as long as smoke. This is a profound statement, in fact I believe generally that age last as long as smoke. Why? Because we grow per fractions of a second, so there is no clear line of demarcation to show that you are growing to another age, one age fades into the other without warning like a smoke that fades into the thin air. If you chose to live life carefree and footloose, you just might wake up one morning discovering you are not able to lift your hands as you had afore time. That means old age have caught up with you unannounced. One of the reason therefore why we calibrate age by year is to be forewarned of the impending old age that comes as smoke. So how are you living your life now? Are you conscious of the fact that the ticking second hand of the clock is telling you that you are growing older? Are you doing the best now to prepare you for your night time? Some years ago, I watched how some touts were shoving off an older one who felt cheated by them. As he was being shoved, I felt pity for him. Had he planned for that time, he should not have been in that game anymore, but because he didnt plan for his old age, it took the beating of the younger touts to let him know that like a smoke, his youth have long faded away. In the animal kingdom, like the lion, there is usually a dominant male with a harem of 4-5 lionesses. It remains in charge for as long as it can ward off straying lions. Its time expires when it is defeated by a more agile youthful lion. When as a human, you only know that you have aged because of the calamity that befalls you; you have equated yourself with mere animals. Age supposedly is to make you wiser, through the differing experiences so that you may to know how to deal wisely with life. That is why we naturally expect grey hair to speak. We expect those who have longed been married to know better. We expect a long time businessman to naturally have the knowhow of the game. In the same vein, so do we expect an older state or nation to have matured over time? But you and I know for a truth, that age alone does not speak, it is only those who have chosen to learn through the ups and downs of life to act that age really speaks for. Unfortunately, age had been like a smoke to many, it caught up with them unawares so they did not learn through the past experiences. The age of a nation most of the time is measured by how long they have amalgamated to be a nation. More than that, I believe the age of a nation also aside from the chronological year

should be measured by how much its populace; especially the leadership has over the years been able to evolve to make for a better nation. Once a nation is not evolving through its years of amalgamation, it means that just like an individual, the nations age had faded in like a smoke without the consciousness of its people and especially its leaders. Once revolution becomes the way forward for a nation, it is shows that it did not allow itself to go through the normal route of evolution. It is this lack of evolution that breeds decadence in the polity and especially in the leadership and since the only constant thing in life is change, revolution forced the change that should have evolved were the people conscious of their environment. In the preceding verses of our base scripture vs23,24, God spoke to the prophet Ezekiel, And the word of the Lord came to me, saying, Son of man, say to her, You are a land that is not cleansed nor rained upon in the day of indignation. Here, God was showing His displeasure towards a nation that refused to evolve through time. He called them a nation that rain had not fallen on. Rain indicates cleansing, fruitfulness and the Holy Spirit. From vs25-29, God addressed five classes of people that made up the condition of the nation; He spoke about their perverse ways, their iniquity, and their insensitivity to their environment, their selfishness, brutality, extortions and killing. The classes of people addressed according to the Message Translations are the leaders, the politicians, the priest, the preachers and the people. From the list of people God addressed and castigated, it is obvious there is nobody matured that is exempted from the madness of the nation concerned. We can infer therefore, that God does not only hold the leadership of a nation responsible for its failure, He also considers the spiritual leaders as well as the populace of matured individuals that makes up the nation as responsible. What that means is that our nation Nigeria is in its precarious state today due to the faults of us all. As long as we keep bulk passing the faults, we might never move forward, for instead of owning up to our irresponsibility we are busy looking for the snowball to heap it all on. Ladies and gentlemen, God is not only going to judge the leadership for the precarious condition of the nation, we all shall be judged, for we all are here. Like they say in the court of law, silence means consent. So, if you are keeping quiet over the situation in the nation, you are actually indirectly showing your solidarity towards the evil around. What that means is that our coping with evil is our agreement with it. It is time to voice out and stop coping with evil. For many of us, the fear of losing our daily bread has made us accomplices to evil. Some of us even think it is not spiritual to speak against evil, well, the scripture holds both the priest and preacher liable for his indignation towards the land. Just to show to us God expectation, He said in the base scripture, And I sought a man among them. He searches for a man, a willing vessel, someone who is fed up with the status quo, someone who desire change, someone who wish and pray for the cleansing rain of God to fall, someone man enough to stand up and stand out, someone who is sick and tired of being sick and tired of the prevailing ugly situation. Notice also that the man must be from among those

God is displeased with. A man from among the priests, leaders, preachers, politician and the people, someone who considers himself a stakeholder in the issues at stake. God is looking for a few good rascals. Our help and solution to our problem is not from abroad, it is from among us. So, are you doing anything to show your solidarity to God or are you in agreement with the prevailing evil? You may be wondering, why the oxymoron? I will tell you. Since from God point of view, the people concerned who can make the difference are all part of the blame of the present decadence, we all share in the blame of the hopelessness of our nation, so we all are rascals in the sight of God. But the all wise God still sees element of good in all of us (including those whom we consider as irredeemable), hence He believes that despite the entire despicable act committed by all of us either by omission or commission, if we (starting with you) today chose to turn from our twisted ways in repentance (i.e. choosing to do things differently) and seek His face (i.e. align ourselves to His ways), He will hear from heaven and heal our land by pouring down His cleansing rain. But as long as we all stand hand akimbo or join the foray of evil, we remain rascals in Gods sight, though you and I have the potential to be part of the few good rascals. I want you to notice the specific qualities this good rascal. I will be using the GNB translation for better understanding, I looked for someone who could build a wall, who could stand in the places where the walls have crumbled and defend the land when my anger is about to destroy it, but I could find no one. The first quality God is looking for in the few good rascals to bring about restoration to our land from these class of people is a builder. He is someone whose passion is for the oneness of the nation, a true nationalist and not another imperialist. Most of our so called nationalists were not builders; the best of them were ethnic builders while the most of them are just glorified slave trader or people looking for relevance. A builder is more concerned about the beauty of the edifice; he will compromise his comfort to get the job done. A builder works best in the unity of all concern in making a structure what it is meant to be. A builder breeds harmony and not discord. He co-ordinates, organizes and brings the best out of his workmen. He is a motivator; he is time conscious and very sensitive to both the needs of his workmen and the owner of the building. He builds with the security of the populace at heart, he is not just a talker, but his actions speak for him. God also is looking for a good rascal who is a repairer cum defender. He must be one who is conscious of the failings of the past and is willing to repair the broken walls of mistrust of the different ethnic groupings rather than try to tear it apart or capitalize on the division and encourage divide and rule tactics. He repairs the wall of ethnic bigotry. He reconciles and soothes the wounded without compromising justice and peace. He speaks for all rather that for one or few. He bridges the gap between the poor and the rich, the privileged and the under privileged. He is a voice of hope, a voice of love and a voice of progress. This good rascal is also a man who has the fear and the love of God at heart. He is committed to Gods standard and he is willing and ready to lift up and uphold that standard. He is not biased, for he speaks and acts

with the consciousness of God. He it is who will cry for Gods mercy because of the offenses of the people in authority, ask for forgiveness of the sins of the past, he it is who will lift up his voice to God for pardon for the present faults. He does not chide because he is not involved directly. He does not justify discomfort because it does not affect him directly. He is a God man. A good rascal is one who is permanently on Gods side and upholds His truth, justice, peace, sanctity to life, brotherly love and exhibit milk of human kindness. He is not aloof; he does not pass the bulk, but rather identify with it. The few good rascals can be you and I once we identify with our nation while at the same time identify with the heart of God. The vs31 of that scripture said because God could not find a good rascal, His indignation was poured upon the land. Though God does not excuse sin and wrong doing, yet he searches for the Abraham and the Nehemiah of our time who even in their comfort will still cry out Lord have mercy! and they are willing to contribute their own quota for the good of the nation. They are willing to leave their comfort zone, rally people rightly and be part of the building team. That includes us all excluding none. Maybe the major problem of our land is even bulk passing. And as long as we continue in our bulk passing and refuse to accept our own wrongs, the nation will remains in its rut and even gets worse despite that it is getting older while God seeks just anyone who will be a good rascal. Will you be part of the few good rascals today? Arent you tired of sitting on the fence? Happy independent day!

Selah! (Think and consider)

For once in your life (if you have never in your adulthood) consider the wordings of our National Anthem and the Pledge and ask yourself sincerely, if those words apply to you. There is creative power in words, if you will recite this to yourself long enough, it just might ignite the patriotic spirit within. One of our major problems is that we do not appreciate words; we dont even consider our words to mean anything, which is why we do not give value to any other words. To many of us (even the leadership), the National Anthem is just sweet nothing, flowery words having no meaning. This indeed is very sad. We must realize that the universe was created by words Gen1:1-and it is even sustained by words Heb1:3, the authority God gave to man is in form of words. God created all things by the words of His mouth, like God also; we make things happen by our words, so I enjoin you to for once give credence to the words of our National Anthem. God bless Nigeria.