The life of William Wilberforce

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William Wilberforce is known for championing for the abolition of slave labor and slavery in Britain. And he is our this week’s focus. In case you missed it, last week we were dealing with the life of John Bunyan. And you could check it out too.

Background

He was born on 24th August 1959, in Hull, England. When he was almost 9, his father died and he was sent to live with William and Hannah, his uncle and aunt.

His parents were very wealthy and he therefore had access to the best education. He was a graduate of St. John’s College at Cambridge.

Just when he was 21, he contested for the seat in the House of Commons for his hometown, Hull, in 1780, and won. He spent £8000 on the election. His money, together with the gift of speaking that he possessed, made him triumph over both his opponents.

He married Barbara, the love of his life, whom he met when he was 37 years old. He immediately fell in love with her, proposed within 8 days, and married 6 weeks later after they had met. They were blessed with two daughters and four sons in their first eight years of marriage. They stayed married until William died.

Conversion

William Wilberforce did not live his life well as a youth. Having inherited a large fortune from his dad, he spent them at the gaming tables playing poker,gambling, wining and dining in fashionable London Clubs, and engaging in other things money can buy.

But when he was 25 years old, his life changed, when God sought him through a friend Isaac Milner.

During the long holidays when Parliament was not in session, William would sometimes travel with friends and family.

On winter 1784, he invited an old friend Isaac Milner, together with his mother and sister to go with him to the French Riviera.

They engaged in long conversations about Christianity, after he had found out that Milner was a convinced Christian, who didn’t have any of the stereotypes William had built up against evangelicals.

In the house they were staying at, William saw a copy of The rise and Progress of Religion in the Soul, by Philip Doddrige. Milner suggested that he carries it along and read it on his way home. This was after William had asked him his thoughts about the book.

William went back home, having intellectual understanding of the biblical view of man, God and Christ but with no conviction yet. The following summer, he travelled with Milner again and they discussed the Greek New Testament for hours.

After that, he was met with profound conviction, so dramatic, that he considered leaving Parliament and becoming a clergyman instead.

He then decided to seek advice from a friend of his aunt Hannah, John Newton. ( the same Newton who wrote Amazing Grace among other contemporary songs)

John Newton advised him not to cut himself from the public life. He later wrote to him saying, “it is hoped and believed that the Lord has raised you up for the good of His church and for the good of the nation.”

Project slave trade abolition

A year after his conversion, he obtained clarity on his calling in life, which was “the Suppression of the Slave Trade, and the Reformation of Manners ( morals)”

And in 1787, just a few days before the parliamentary recess, he issued a notice for the motion “abolition of slave trade” to be brought in early in the new season.

The motion was indeed brought to parliament but was defeated not less than eleven times for the two decades that followed. Reason being, slave trade injected finances into the British economy, gotten from the produce at West Indies plantations which used slaves as its main source of labor.

Not only that. Banning slavery in Britain would bring serious international and political ramifications. This is because, if Britain would have outlawed slavery, the colonies at West Indian would probably declare their independence from Britain, and federate with the United States.

And Britain wasn’t willing to take such risks. Yet Wilberforce kept persisting in his cause for the abolition of slave trade and slavery.

And 20 years later, after encountering 11 defeats, in 1807, came the victory. The House voted and the Ayes had 283 votes , the Noes 16. And on March 25, 1807, the royal assent was declared.

This however was not the end of the battle. All the law had abolished was slave trade only. Not slavery itself. And that became his next major cause.

He kept pressing on for the abolition of slavery, and 26 years later, only three days before he died, the decisive vote of victory came, and on 26th June 1833, slavery was outlawed in the British colonies.

Lessons from William Wilberforce.

1. Always stand up for the truth

Slave trade was just so wrong, but despite the fact that many knew that, they did nothing about it. After all, it didn’t affect them directly as it involved a bunch of African nobodies. Besides, the trade itself was a lucrative one with huge benefits to the slave owners and consequently the British economy. And no one was willing to stop it.

But it took one person to stand up for the truth, and despite the opposition, he kept forging forward until slave trade was abolished.

And likewise to us, we should always stand up for the truth at all times. Even when public opinion is not on our side.

2. Serve God in the position you are in.

God has placed us in the various positions we are in for a reason. We don’t have to be clergymen and women, or to be missionaries in order to make a difference. But instead, we should just serve God in the positions we are in currently. And we for sure will make a difference in the seemingly “ordinary” positions that we may be in.

William Wilberforce was a politician who served God in the capacity God placed him in. Though initially he wanted to join the clergy, he was advised not to. He therefore went and sought to make a difference using his political position.

3. Perseverance

William Wilberforce was a man of extraordinarily perseverance. He committed to fighting for the abolishment of slave trade and slavery for more than four decades.

He was a man who could take no for an answer if the cause was just. This is what his opponents said about him, “He jumped up whenever we knocked him down.” And eventually, his efforts bore fruits.

Success will sometimes come after 2 or 5 or 50 or maybe we won’t even see the fruits of what we have championed for all our lives.

But we shouldn’t give up! Like Wilberforce, let’s keep bouncing back even when we don’t see the fruits yet, knowing that one day we will be successful, if the cause is just.

4.Get counsel from wise mentors.

Wilberforce when faced with the “10,000” doubts as to whether to become a clergyman or continue with his political career, consulted a friend, “old Newton” as he referred to him.

Newton advised him to remain in his political position and to serve God in that position. That counsel went a long way to make a great impact to Britain and the world at large.

What if had gone to other people instead, and he was told to drop his political career and adopt something else? The story would probably not have been the same.

We need to seek advice from wise mentors. Not everyone will advise us accordingly, and we should be choosy on who to seek advice from.

And again, don’t let someone’s age be the basis of choosing who to seek counsel from or not. I recently have been working with teenagers and I am just amazed at the wisdom they exhibit. There is this 13 year old in my life whom I’d gladly seek advice from as opposed to that thirty something person I also know.

So don’t let age be the basis, but instead be guided by wisdom when it comes to choosing who to get advice from.

5.Bless others with what God has blessed us with

One of the things that William did immediately after he got saved, was to give out part of his wealth to the poor.

Generosity was the mark of his life. This is what he wrote after he was married, “by careful management, I should be able to give at least one – quarter of my income to the poor”

He wrote that, “riches are not to be valued chiefly as instruments of luxury or splendor, but as affording the means of honoring Our heavenly Benefactor, and lessening the miseries of mankind.”

And so the big question to us is, will we use the wealth God has blessed us with to grow even more wealthier, or like Wilberforce we’ll adopt a simple life and share with the less fortunate?

6. Let God come first in our lives before everything.

God should come first in our lives, before friendships, family or anything else we consider as dear in this world.

Wilberforce was best friends with William Pitt, the then Prime Minister of England. But when it came to matters relating abolishing slave trade, he stood to his ground, even if it meant hurting the feelings of his close friends or losing friendships as a result of his actions. What mattered was that he was obeying God and serving him in the position he had placed him in.

And likewise to us, God should come first in our lives, and we should be ready to take the risk of losing even those dear to us if they will come between us and God.

7. Make time for quality family time.

Most fathers who have the wealth and position Wilberforce had, hardly see their children.

But not Wilberforce. He insisted on eating as many meals as possible with his children, and joined them in their games.

And this is a challenge to us, married or not, however much busy we are in our various activities, let’s always make time for family. And especially, our children.

References

I have drawn largely from “Amazing Grace in the life of William Wilberforce by John Piper.

The life of John Bunyan

This week, and the weeks to come on Thursdays, I’ll be doing a series on faithful men and women in the past, who are long dead, but continue to speak to us in various ways. Stay tuned! Our week’s focus is on John Bunyan.

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INTRODUCTION
John Bunyan is the author of the famous book “The Pilgrim’s Progress” among other books.

The Pilgrim’s Progress is an allegorical book whereby a protagonist Christian, flees the City of destruction in search of a better city, the Celestial city. It mirrors every Christian’s life, as they make every effort with God’s help to flee from hell ,with the anticipation that on Christ’s second coming, they will go to heaven.

For many years, besides the King James Bible, The Pilgrim’s Progress was considered one of the most influential books in Christian households. Which is super amazing, considering the fact that John Bunyan never attended any institution of higher learning, or any theological school. He was a high school dropout.

But he had the power to move crowds. It was said that a day’s notice would attract a crowd of over a thousand people on a weekday at 7:00am. As expected, he was despised by the learned. King Charles once asked John Owen a great theologian, why he went to listen to an uneducated tinker preach, yet he was a great scholar. John Owen replied that he would willingly exchange his learning for the tinker’s power of touching men’s hearts.

He was jailed the first time for twelve years because of preaching. And it was in jail that he like Paul and Dietrich Bonhoeffer among others, wrote many books. He has been dead for more than 300 years now, yet he continues to speak to us in many ways.

BACKGROUND
He was born in Elstow, South of Bedford,England on Nov 30th 1628. He had a younger sister who was two years younger than him. His mother and sister passed away, one month from each other when he was 15. His father remarried within the month.

When he was 16, he got drafted into the Parliamentary army. God spared his life there, when one day, the day he was to be the sentinel, another man took his place, and was killed by a musket ball shot in his head. He served in the military for two years.

He was not a believer then, and he described himself as the very ring leader of all the youth, that kept him company in all manner of vice and ungodliness.

He married in his early 20s, to a lady we don’t know of her name. She too was poor like him, but she had a godly father who had died and left her with two books: The Plain Man’s Pathway to Heaven and The Practice of Piety. John would then read these books and they played a critical role in his conversion process.

They were blessed with four children, Mary, Elizabeth, John, and Thomas. Mary who was the eldest, was born blind.
His wife died when he was 30, and he married Elizabeth, and together they had two other children Sarah and Joseph. Elizabeth would play a critical role in raising John’s children especially when he was in prison.

SALVATION AND MINISTRY
God drew him to Himself through the books his first wife brought with her during their first years of marriage. He was then converted into a Christian, (baptistic non-conformist church) under pastor Gifford in Bedford. His pastor, together with Martin Luther, would play a key role in his walk with God. This is after he came across a commentary on Galatians by Martin Luther.

He discovered he could preach after he was given a chance one day at church, to exhort believers. That’s how a great preacher was born.

He started preaching in 1655 at Bedford, but was put in jail for 12 years for preaching. His release was guaranteed if he agreed to stop preaching but he couldn’t. He therefore spent 12yrs in prison until 1672 when he was released after a Declaration of Religious indulgence was passed.

He was licenced after he came from prison and was a preacher at Bedford, for the rest of his life. He died in 1688 of pneumonia, after he was rained on, on a horse’s back on his way to home from London, where he had gone to solve a dispute between a father and a son.

His last sermon was at Whitechapel in London on 19th August. It was based on John 1:13. His last words were, “Live like the children of God , that you may look your father in the face with comfort another day.”

LESSONS FROM JOHN BUNYAN

1. Suffering is not for nothing.
Here is a man who was imprisoned, and separated from his family. He lived in constant fear of execution, since many people were executed for doing just what he did. But suffering accomplished it’s purpose in his life. God never permits suffering in our lives to accomplish nothing. While in prison, his faith was refined, he grew more in the knowledge of God. He learnt to trust on God ” who is invisible ” as he liked to put it. It was in prison that books like the Pilgrim’s Progress and Grace Abounding to Chief of sinners among others were written.

2. Suffer for the sake of Christ.
John Bunyan’s release was guaranteed if he only agreed to stop preaching. But he refused those terms and was therefore in prison for very many years. How many of us would choose Christ over freedom? And so, whenever we are confronted with such situations in our lives, let’s remember those who have gone before us in this journey like Bunyan, and let not our faith in God waiver.

2. God calls and equips His people
John Bunyan never attended any university or any Bible school yet he was able to write many books and move crowds, that the scholars of that time like John Owen, could go listen to him. His book, the Pilgrim’s Progress has been translated into over 200 languages , and apart from the Bible, it was the bestselling book, with three editions in 1678 the year it was published.

Yet he was a high school dropout. He knew neither Greek nor Hebrew and didn’t have any theological degrees. John Burton wrote a forward in one of his books, saying, “this man is not chosen out of an earthly but a heavenly university, the Church of Christ…” This was in defense of Bunyan when the elite could want to look down on him.

Indeed, God is the one who calls and equips his people. We therefore don’t need to feel incapable if God calls us despite our limited educational background, and neither should we boast and beat our chests if we think we are “educated enough” to stand on our own. But in whichever case, we should just lean on Him, and trust in Him, that in whichever capacity he calls us, He is going to equip us and provide the ability we need.

4. Pour yourself into God’s word.
John Bunyan poured himself into God’s word all his life. This is so evident in his writings which are full of scripture quotations. This is what he had to say in regards to his writing, “I have not for these things fished in other men’s waters; my Bible and Concordance are my only library in my writings.”
Charles Spurgeon put it this way, “He has studied our Authorized Version,…till his whole being was saturated with Scripture, and through his writings …continually make us feel and say, “why, this man is a living Bible!” prick him anywhere and you will find that his blood is Bibline, the very essence of the Bible flows from him. He cannot speak without quoting a text, for his soul is full of the word of God.”
God’s word is our sword. It teaches us, rebukes us, corrects us, trains us in righteousness( 2nd Timothy 3:16) We should keep it in our hearts at all times.

5. Daily denying of oneself and picking up one’s cross is a requirement of every Christ follower.
Jesus stated it clearly in Mathew 16:24 that whoever would want to come after him, must first deny himself, pick up his cross and follow him. John Bunyan when quoting 2nd Corinthians 1:9 says,“by the scripture, I was made to see that if ever I would suffer rightly, I must first pass a sentence of death upon everything that can be properly called a thing in this life, even recon myself, my wife, my children, my health, my enjoyment, and all, as dead to me, and myself as dead to them.”
Following Jesus is not easy. We must daily die to ourselves, but the good news is that we are not alone in this journey. Jesus is with us every single step of the way, and we have those who have gone before us like Bunyan, who have shown us that it is possible.

REFERENCES
The writer has drawn largely from “To Live upon God who is Invisible, the life of John Bunyan by John Piper, and Grace Abounding to the Chief of Sinners by John Bunyan.

Read for your growth

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There is this not pleasant saying that says ” if you want to hide something from an African, just put it in a book.” Ouch! that hurts! But it’s the truth. We generally are not readers , and most people I know stop reading as soon as they finish school. Those in school currently ,give many excuses why they can’t read non examinable books. The main reason being, there’s no time. But on close monitoring, they will make time to hang out with friends, and watch movies. There is just “no” time for reading books.

What does the Bible say about reading ?

Acts 17: 11, “Now the Berean Jews were of noble character than those in Thessalonica, for they received the message with great eagerness and examined the Scriptures every day to see if what Paul said was true.” The Bereans were obviously readers. After receiving the message with great eagerness, they went further to examine it more, so as to ascertain whether what Paul was telling them was indeed true. And Paul highly commended them for that. He used the words ” noble character” to describe their actions.

Why should you read?

As Jaquelle Crowe observes, “books are teachers, sometimes tough , sometimes gentle, sometimes comforting, sometimes convicting, sometimes disturbing, sometimes life changing, sometimes practical, sometimes profound. They expand our minds and horizons, banishing the temptation to tunnel vision. They teach us more about the world and more about the Bible and more about people and more about joy and more about holiness and more about eternity and more about relationships and more about sin and more about grief. They make us more intelligent and empathetic. They make us sharper reasoners and more critical thinkers. Books make us better.”

Unfortunately, few people know this! But it really is never too late to start reading. I’m not speaking as someone who started to read from a young age, but as someone who discovered the power of books late last year, and have been trying to read consistently since then, not without flaws of course.

What should you read?

1st Corinthians 10: 23 should be our basis here, ” everything is permissible, but not everything is beneficial.” There’s a wide variety of genres out there, and one really needs to exercise discernment in regards to what to read or not. As God’s children, not everything is written for us. And therefore we need to be careful on whatever we read. Books are poison too depending on what you ingest. They have the ability to grow you, and the ability to destroy you , depending on what you read. As it is often said, “the eyes are the windows of the soul.” Mathew 6:22-23 says,” the eye is the lamp of the body. If your eyes are healthy, your whole body will be full of light. But if your eyes are unhealthy, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light within you is darkness, how great is the darkness! We therefore should watch whatever gets through our eyes.

There’s no other way we are going to grow if we don’t read. C.H Spurgeon quoted in “This changes everything” says,”give yourself unto reading. The man who never reads will never be read, he who never quotes will never be quoted. He who will not use the thoughts of other men’s brains , proves that he has no brains of his own. You need to read.”

This is a call to read for your growth!

Reasons why you should memorize scripture.

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Psalms 119:11.” I have hidden your word in my heart that I may not sin against you “.

Scripture memorization is a spiritual discipline, whereby one gets to memorize God’s word. This is one of the sectors in my spiritual life that I can say I am lagging behind. I have been purposing since the year began to start memorizing portions of scripture ,but several months down the line, here I am ,with no progress whatsoever.

I however read a story of a lady called Esther, which reignited my efforts at being intentional towards scripture memorization.

Esther Ahn Kim was born in Korea. She was born at a time when Korea was under the rule of Japanese. And among the things that Koreans were subjected to then, was mandatory participation at the Shinto shrines, to specifically bow to Amaterasu Omikami( the sun goddess).

But thanks to Esther’s mom who was a staunch Christian, Esther knew idols were powerless from an early age, and that the only person to be worshipped was God.

So on this day, in 1939, Esther, a music teacher at a Christian girls school in Pyongyang, goes to the shrine at Namsan Mountain, as per the requirement. Having resolved to do what Shadrach, Meshack and Abednego did, she chose to remain erect when everyone in the enormous crowd gave their profound bow to Amaterasu Omikami.

The shrine was closely watched by police, and she was easily spotted as the defiant one. No one arrested her there, but when she got to the classroom , four detectives were waiting for her, who then took her to the chief of the district. However, before he could deal with her, he received a phone call, and hurried away. Esther then took that opportunity to flee. Reaching home, her mom disguised her in dirt and old clothes, and she took the first train leaving the station.

She ended up in Shin Ei Joo, where she stayed with a former student for a few days, before traveling to her sister’s place in Jung Loo, where she met her mother there. While in there, they found a deserted and isolated small house, which they moved in to.

Because they were isolated,she could now sing hymns loudly. She memorized many hymns and more than 100 chapters of the Bible,which came in handy during the years later when she was imprisoned with no access to a Bible or hymn book . ( For more on this story, read “Faithful women and their extraordinary God” by Noel Piper.)

When it comes to scripture memorization , we give a lot of reasons why we are incapable of doing it. We say it’s too hard , or it’s “reserved ” for the spiritually mature, or we don’t have time, among many other reasons, which is just total baloney. Because truth is, if we become really intentional about it, we’ll do it.

I used to think I just couldn’t memorize anything, until this day when I was proven wrong. We had a leadership conference, and as a norm, when it comes to plenary sessions, the speaker usually doesn’t read the word, but instead calls someone to come recite the portion of scripture that the sermon would come from that day.

In that conference, we were doing a book exposition on Titus. So one person was to recite Titus 1,another Titus 2, and another Titus 3. ( It was a three day conference). Thirty hours to the conference, I was asked if I could do a recitation of Titus 2. And I said yes, not because I had attempted scripture recitation before, but because I thought it was so cool! I had seen people reciting before and found it to be so cool!

So the next 30 hours were spent attending classes, memorizing, sleeping, travelling, and memorizing again. The D day for reciting came, and I can recall clearly the day’s events. We were there seated, when the speaker said, ” I now invite Tabitha to come do scripture recitation of Titus 2″. With my wobbling legs, I made it to the pulpit. And right then, I couldn’t even remember what verse 1 says. Nevertheless, with God’s help, I was able to flawlessly recite the entire the chapter.

I’ve shared this basically for that someone who thinks they can’t really do it, just to show that it is very possible, if one purposes to do it.

Why should we memorize scripture?

1. It is a weapon against the schemes of the devil

Ephesians 6: 17….” Take the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.”. Paul tells us that, in order to stand against the devil’s schemes, we need to arm ourselves with the sword of the Spirit which is the Word of God. And Jesus modeled this for us so beautifully. When he was being tempted by Satan in Mathew 4, he responded by saying ” it is written…”. You however can’t quote something you only have rumours about to the devil. He too knows the word well .( Mathew 4:6). Having the word in our hearts will help us in defending ourselves.

2. Knowing God’s word keeps us from sinning.

Psalms 119:11.” I have hidden your word in my heart that I might not sin against you “. Knowing God’s word and keeping it in our hearts ,will be our refuge in times of temptation. It will be there to offer us razor sharp conviction when we are confronted with sin.

3. It is a command from God.

Deuteronomy 11:18. “ fix these words of mine in your hearts and minds; tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads.” God is simply telling us to memorize His word. That way, we can meditate on it at anytime, and get to grow in our knowledge of God.

4. It provides us with guidance and wisdom.

The word of God provides us with guidance and wisdom on basically every matter in our lives. It has all the answers to all our questions, and it’s important we have it in our hearts, as it will come in handy especially when we need to make decisions, or want guidance in certain things.

5.The word of God is a comfort in times of suffering.

Romans 8:28. ” and we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.” Knowing that God works for the good of us in everything, including our suffering is just so comforting. It gives us hope to keep going on , even when it hurts. Such fighter verses just need to be kept deep in our hearts.

6. The word of God reveals to us the truth.

Ephesians 6 :14. “Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled round your waist,” John 8:32. ” Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free”. Satan the father of all lies, has blinded the minds of believers, such that we no longer know what is true anymore. But luckily God has given us his word full of truths. And we only need to keep it in our hearts. This will keep us from becoming mislead by lies masquerading like truths.

7. The word of God gives us hope in times of fear.

Isaiah 41: 10. ” so do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.” These are the sweetest words everyone wants to hear especially when they are experiencing fear. Knowing that God is with us, is a great relief. And we need to store such words on our hearts, so next time we pass through the valley of shadow of death, we won’t lose hope since we know our God is with us.

We need to embrace scripture memorization. Maybe we won’t need it the way Esther Ahn Kim needed it, like she was in prison with no access to a Bible, but we’ll need it for the reasons I’ve mentioned above. But above all, it will grow us in our knowledge of God.

Let God take care of your anxieties.

Mom: who was that person who called you? What did he want?
Me: It was a con man. He wanted money , but I’m happy I noticed early before we could talk much.
Mom: I hope you didn’t give out your pin or ID number or anything.
Me: haha. I’d never do that. I’m literate enough , I can’t just be tricked by anyone.

Mom: I’m sorry. I’m glad you noticed early his intentions. Those people can be dangerous!

Reality.
I had just been conned of every single cent I had . Not only that, he also tricked me into taking a loan for him. I still don’t know how he managed to pull that out! I know you probably are thinking of how dumb I am, but stuff happen, I can assure you I’m actually bright , I just don’t know what happened.
I must put a warning here. If you know my mom, some things are never to be said, got it?. Well I’m planning on telling her the truth, when I eventually find words to explain what actually happened! For now I’m still trying to look for the appropriate words.

It actually took me some time for reality to hit. And when it did, it hit hard!. It was just a few days till I launched my blog, and there I was, penniless. I couldn’t really borrow money as such from my siblings, since I had just been sent money recently.
And that’s when the anxieties started rolling. I needed money for various needs. But my biggest worry was, the loan had interest, which accumulates if one doesn’t pay soon. I just failed to understand how I could have fallen into their trap!

My mind was in a daze, and I was beside myself with worry, as I wondered how a seemingly beautiful day, could just end up being tainted by such a thing!

But it is during such hopeless moments, that I was reminded of how our God meets us in our anxieties.
I was specifically drawn to Phil 4:6-7: do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God , which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and mind in Christ Jesus.

It was true that I didn’t know where the money was going to come from. It was true that I had needs which needed to be satisfied ASAP,and it was also true that it was not a guarantee that I was going to get help soon.

But despite everything, what comforted me was the knowledge that we have a loving God. Who has commanded us not to worry, but just to present our needs to him. And just trust him and his word, that when he says he’ll meet our needs, he will surely do that, however gloomy the situation may look. Besides, we can’t add any single hour to our lives by worrying. (Mathew 7:27).

Right then,my problems looked so big, but I was actually so amazed at how I was so much at peace . I even stopped thinking much about them, especially after praying and giving God all those anxieties. I decided to just wait for Providence from him , which I knew would come at his appropriate time, in his mysterious ways.

The reason why I’m sharing my story with you, is so that I can encourage you to look up to God, especially when various needs are pressing at your side, and it’s hard not to be anxious.
God encourages us to just bring our anxieties to him, everything that’s bothering us, and trust him that’s he’s gonna meet our needs at his appointed time. No need to worry, no need to cry, since we have a loving dad who watches over us,and who meets our needs.

What is a wasted life?

Consider the following scenarios:
A:Joash was born in the 1970s. His parents were keen at educating him, he went to the best schools his parents could afford. However while in there, he fell into bad company and started doing drugs. He wasn’t able to finish school ,as he was in and out of rehab. He never got any employment because of his addiction to alcohol, as he was never “sober enough” to do any work. He never married and he died at age 45 of alcohol intoxication.
B: James was born in the year 1927. His parents were keen at educating him too, he attended school, up to the university level. After earning his degree, he didn’t proceed to look for a job, because wanted to be a missionary. So he went to South America to do missionary work in 1952 and was martyred in 1956. He died at age 29.
C: Tim was born in the year 1967. His parents took him to school at an early age. He was keen at his studies in school and joined Harvard School of law at age 18.He graduated with an honours,and got a job with a law firm immediately after his graduation. In the years that followed, he saved as much as he could, and opened his law firm, married a beautiful lawyer, who helped in running their firm. They also had huge shares in the oil industry. They were blessed with three kids who got the best of everything in life , made possible by their parent’s financial stability. Tim however was involved in a fatal road traffic accident on his way from work one day , and died of severe brain trauma at age 51.
Who among these , can you say lived their lives to fullest ?
Until April this year, my version of a life not wasted was scenario C. Reason being, that guy was able to achieve everything people chase after( good education, good job, beautiful wife, good money, and children. )
In scenario B, I considered that life as wasted. Reason being, ” how just does one struggle to get educated all the way from kindergarten to university, and then decide to spend their lives in some remote place , living in poverty. ?And not only that, endanger their lives too?”
Scenario A is a wasted life. That goes without saying.
Those were my perceptions of a life wasted and a life well lived, until I came across a book “don’t waste your life ” by John Piper. It has a completely different idea of what a wasted life looks like. This means that, it is very possible for someone to live a life in scenario C, and still be considered like a person in scenario A,to have wasted their lives.
What exactly is a wasted life?
In order to truly answer that question, we have to see it through biblical lens and not through our eyes. This is because, in the world we live in currently, we the children of God, are surrounded by too much noise, that it is almost impossible to distinguish between God’s voice and other voices. There’s just too much secularism and on our own, we can hardly tell between good and evil, because they have been tampered with. Evil no longer looks as offensive as it should be, and given some time, they cease being evil and become “good”.
The world has given us it’s version of a life well lived; the ability to make “good money”. As in ,tons of money. This translates to a posh house, flashy cars, holidays to exclusive destinations, designer clothes, and all manner of things the world terms as “good”. Money is the “chief idol” and most people will seek to find it at all costs. No wonder it is still unintelligible, why someone would leave a good career to go to do something like missionary work. That is committing “career suicide “.
But what does a life well lived means through biblical lens?
Psalms 100:3 : know that the Lord is God. It is he who made us,and we are his,we are his people, the sheep of his pasture.
The Bible tells us that we are not our own, we belong to God. He made us, and for a reason .That means, if we miss to live to that reason, then we live wasted lives.

Why did God make us?
1) So that we may glorify him.
God made us for his glory, Isaiah 43:6-7, and we are supposed to glorify him in everything we do.(1st Corinthians 10:31). A life therefore that doesn’t glorify God , however much good or “dreamy “ it may look like, it is still a WASTED life.
2) That we may live with him.
John 14:2-3,My Father’s house has many rooms, if that were not so, would I have told you that I’m going there to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am. God has plans for us to go live with him . He has promised to come to take us home. However, it is not everyone who gets to live with God. Revelation 21:27 says, “Nothing impure will ever enter it, nor will anyone who does what is shameful or deceitful, but only those whose names are written in the Lamb’s book of life.“

We are all sinners. We don’t qualify to go to heaven on our own merit, and God knows that. That’s why he sent Jesus to come live the life we were meant to live but couldn’t, and to die for all the sins we’ve ever committed and that we will ever commit, that through Jesus, whoever believes in him, may not perish, but have eternal life (get to live with him in heaven).
The knowledge of knowing that Jesus died for us, is however not enough. God needs to conform us into the image of his son daily. We still need to work out our salvation, as we assist God in our sanctification journey. The person who does that ,achieves what it is called, “a life lived fully”.
3) That we may know Him
God created us that we may get to know him through a loving and a trusting relationship with him. He has also given us the means to achieving that; through his written word (The Bible), through Prayers, and through Fellowship( the people he has granted us to point us to him).
A wasted life therefore, is a life lived with no intention of wanting to know God.
4) So that we can love him and love others.
God created us that we may love him. This we do by obeying his commands. John 14:23-24,Anyone who loves me will obey my teaching……Anyone who does not love me will not obey my teaching. And we don’t love him because of the good things he’s done in our lives, but because of who he is , and that it is our responsibility to love him.
We are supposed to show our love to others, not because they are lovable or they deserve it,but because we love them with the great love God loved us( John 3:16) . One of the ways we show love to others is by taking the gospel to them. By the way, that person in scenario B, is James (Jim) Elliot. He ,together with four other other friends ,were speared to death on 8th January 1956, by the Indian tribe they were trying to reach to. That now, is the best description of a life well lived. This however does not mean ,that only those in ministry are the ones living their lives to the fullest. One can be a teacher or a banker or a doctor and glorify God in their professions. That way ,they will be living their lives to the fullest.
The greatest commandment is love…we are to love the Lord our God with all our hearts,with all our souls , with all our strength, and with all our minds. And to love our neighbors as ourselves.( Luke 10:27).
Anyone who does that, knows what it means to live “a life well lived “.
What next?
Over the past few months I’ve had to unlearn a lot of things in my life. One of them being, “my version of a wasted life “. Before God in his mercies pressed the “restore factory settings” button in my life, the one thing I used to seek was money. Not money in general, money in particular. It was what defined my life. But thanks to God’s grace, I no longer seek the things I used to.
Why am I telling you my testimony? Because I want you to know ,I’ve been there. The world has it’s way of defining success ,which is way different from how God defines it. So if you’ve fallen into it’s lies, it’s never too late to unlearn stuff. Just go to God, and he’ll change everything in your life. And very soon, you’ll no longer desire what the world has to give.