Swallow the chill pill

13 Mar, 2016 - 00:03 0 Views
Swallow  the chill pill Sunday Mail

The Sunday Mail

BLESSED greetings to you. l pray that you walk in the destiny that God has prepared for you. While times might be challenging, that does not mean God has all of a sudden forgotten about you and His plans for your life.
In this season of Easter, take time to reflect on your life and locate yourself in Christ. God has a definite agenda for your life.
In Romans 12 v 1, the apostle Paul says, “I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service”. This is a common passage of scripture. The apostle is pleading with the Roman church. The same plea is still being made today. Our focus is on the last two words – reasonable service. Today, we will spend time on the word “reasonable”.
One definition of the word reasonable is showing judgement, a sensible choice or a sensible person, fair, not excessive or extreme.
This reminds me of a verse in 1 Peter 5 v 8 where the apostle starts by saying, “Be sober . . .”
Again in Galatians 5 v 22, Paul mentions “temperance” as one of the attributes of the fruit of the Spirit.
One common trait in us Africans is the fire in our bones. We are hot blooded. This is seen in how we express ourselves and live our lives. For instance, we are loud by nature, we are a colourful people, vivacious and full of life.
We wear our emotions on our sleeves and are not ashamed to show it. That is a great characteristic that God has blessed us all with. It can be seen in how we support our football teams or how we celebrate our weddings and parties. ln our churches, we have loud music and the voices are all harmonious. These are all great attributes but the challenge manifests in the negative way in which this trait affects us.
Most of us tend not to think or plan long term, sometimes we make very rushed decisions without considering the consequences, only to realise the damage later. Sometimes, our pride and ego clouds our judgement.
All these negative traits are more prominent in the youth of today. It manifests in young people becoming alcoholics, drug abusers, smokers and living recklessly. We have young people dying in road accidents due to over speeding.
People are influenced by money at a young age and live a life of debauchery. Morals are thrown out of the window at the sight of money. These days, our young ladies are dressing and living in ways that leave a lot to be desired.
Paul says “be reasonable”, Apostle Peter says “be sober”. I say take a chill pill.
Stop for a moment and consider your life. Where are you headed with the decisions that you have made and are making? You might not be in control of some of the situations that you have found yourself in but how have you dealt with what your life has thrown at you?
One classic example is that of Ruth. She had lost her husband and was living in a foreign country. Life was tough and she had to scrounge and beg for food for her family. Ruth remained sober and did not do anything untoward. She could have easily fallen for some of the “young men” mentioned in Ruth 2 v 15 as she was a beautiful young woman who needed help. Yet she did not involve herself with them. Ruth remained sober.
One interesting aspect is how she treated her mother- in- law. Ruth’s husband had passed away and she did not need to live with her mother-in-law. Yet Ruth stayed with her.
In my opinion, that was very reasonable. Probably, Naomi was very kind to her and had been a moth to Ruth. Naomi had become a mentor to her and the only reasonable thing to do was to return that kindness no matter how difficult it was.
Joseph was also sober despite unusual challenges. Betrayed by his brother, falsely accused by his master’s wife and forgotten by a fellow colleague whose dream he had interpreted, Joseph had some very human moments but his decision-making helped him to remain in control.
He controlled his emotions and even though life had really taken a turn for the negative, Joseph remained sober.
Moses on the other hand had to run away and be in exile for forty years, simply because he could not control his temper. The anger cost him the opportunity to enter the promised land.
Take some time to reflect and consider your lack of sobriety. Before making any major life decisions, be reasonable. Take time to consider all of the options before you. Proverbs 11 v 14 says, “Where no counsel is the people fall, but in the multitude of counsellors there is safety.”
Do not be brash and immature about your life. After man had sinned, God considered the available options. He could have left it as it was and done nothing or He could have destroyed all of creation in anger but God decided that the only “reasonable” option was to send His Son Jesus Christ to die for us so that He could redeem mankind. Make things right with anyone you might have wronged in your life.
Till next week. God bless.
Tinashe Zinyemba is a pastor with New Life Covenant Church. Email feedback to [email protected]

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