LUKE 12:5 (TLB) But I’ll
tell you whom to fear – fear God who has the power to kill and then cast into hell.
It was one
cool evening in one of the residential areas in Accra. The sun was slowly being
swallowed by the earth. Darkness was gradually taking control of the sky. At
the rooftop of my father's house sat my little brother and me as we tried our
best to enjoy the boring evening view of this “dry” neighborhood. This happened
to be our spot anytime daddy and mummy were busy with visitors, and this
evening they happened to have had one and as culture demands from every “good”
child, we had to excuse them. Sincerely, being away from daddy especially was a
breath of fresh air; especially when he is not in a good mood. With me, daddy
was never in a good mood when his children were around him. He always had the
face of a man irritated by the presence of houseflies. So, anytime I found
myself away from him, it could be compared to that housefly that was so glad
that it missed that heavy swat by an inch.
As we enjoyed
the view from the rooftop, one of our next-door neighbor’s daughter, the eldest
who I happened to be of the same age with, came to join us. Though it was
normal for her to come to the house, we were surprised to see her at that
particular time since darkness had almost taken control of the sky. We did not
complain because we thought she had met dad, mum, and the visitors who were
sitting directly facing the gate before coming in. Little did I know that my
worst nightmare was to happen in a few minutes.
It is true
that time flies when a boy and a girl meet. Unknown to us, we had been at the
rooftop till 7pm. This was abnormal because my brother and myself do
not usually sit there after 6pm because of mosquitoes. And for some strange
reason, we have been there till 7pm. Dad, who was at this time a bit worried,
yells my name from where he was sitting. I quickly run off leaving my little
brother and the lady.
Thinking I
was quick to get to him when he called, I was wrong. According to daddy, he had
been yelling for some minutes. I didn’t want to worsen the anger so I quickly apologized.
Since he knew that I was there with my little brother, he asked that I called
him so we can go and get our favorite Hausa Koko for supper. Now, this is where
I made the greatest mistake in my life. Instead of calling my little brother
and the lady, my naïve little-self went to call my little brother, who also
foolishly left the lady there with the excuse of returning in a minute. The
minute we walked out of the gate to go and get the porridge, we knew we were up
for trouble. For five minutes we stood in front of the gate wondering if we should
go back in and come out with the lady. But the thought of daddy’s mood just
made it difficult to accept that option. I called the lady on the phone and asked
her to come out so we go and get the porridge together. Without hesitation, she
was quick to add that she could not come out because she was also scared of
dad. At this point, I wished I had Harry Potter’s invisible cloak.
Then the final option came to mind – “Madam-I-do-not-fear-anything”. If you are
guessing who that is, that is the lady’s little sister. Like my brother, she
was two years younger and she was scared of nothing. I mean, if Hitler stood at
one corner and asked that no one disturbed him with questions and unfortunately
for Hitler she had a question, she would disturb him with that particular
question till he gives her an answer. And she happened to be a very close
friend of my dad because of that. When she comes to the house and meets dad,
they could talk like colleagues trying to catch up with life after some years.
We
quickly went to their house to narrate our little “wahala” to her. Without a
word, she walked past us, went into our house and within minutes came out
dragging her shy sister behind. Embarrassed but glad, we asked her how it went
and she just smiled. We laughed it off and went with them to get the porridge. I
had totally forgotten that the ladies had set a bomb in the house for me.
Again, we took forever buying the porridge. When we had seen the ladies off and
finally arrived at our gate, reality hit me like never before. As I stretched
my hand to open the gate, my prayer was for my dad to be in the room preparing
for bed.
I was very
sure the devil had given himself a seat at one side of the house and was sipping
on a glass of champagne when I opened the gate and dad was right there facing
the gate. In my mind, I had selected a good spot for myself at the Awudome
Cemetery, my coffin design and was ready for the death sentence. The first quick
strategy was to act like nothing had happened. But daddy was not ready to let
this go. He was not ready to let this slide like that. It was the first time
his first son had brought a lady to the house at night and he needed to address
the issue as a responsible father before his house turns into a brothel in the
near future.
DAD: So, you were bold enough to take a
lady to my room when I stepped out for some minutes and when I came yelling
your name, you told me you were at the rooftop with your brother?
(At this
time, my little brother just accepted his role as the victim. He silently took
his seat by dad and watched the scene unfold.)
ME: Daddy…
DAD: Shut up!
STEP MUM: O Emmanuel! How can you say
that? He wouldn’t do that.
(Anytime
mummy comes in, we knew we would walk free. But no! Like I said, the devil was
not ready to end his movie too soon for any emergency.)
DAD: Now, if this is the life you want
to live, listen to me very carefully. If any lady should call you with a
pregnancy report, let these words ring in your ear immediately – I HAVE DISOWNED YOU! Do you hear me?
STEP MUM: O Emmanuel!
To this, my
little brother helps him to his feet and escorts him to the room with step-mum
following. I stood there and watched them go as if my feet had been held by a
shackle. This was the first time my dad was threatening me, and instead of
threatening me with death, he rather threatens to “DISOWN/ABANDON”.
The question I asked myself was, “Is dad already fed up with me in his life?”
I was around
13/14years when dad said those words to me. And like magic, those words kept my
third leg in check for some good years. The devil created all the avenues for a
good show, but each time I thought of those four words, the lady immediately
looked like my dad. If you have watched “Truth or Dare”, you would understand
me. We would do every other thing but immediately sex came up, I would see dad
repeating those words.
Growing up as a Christian, the Lord has used that incident to teach me about the “FEAR OF GOD”. If I was not ready to lose my earthly
father by impregnating a lady, then how much more my Heavenly
Father?
According to the teachings of Jesus, the sign of true love for
someone is in the keeping or doing of the commandment(s) set by the one you claim
to love (John 14:15). And this doing and keeping of commandment(s) totally has
nothing to do with what one feels and wants; it has everything to do with what
the person one claims to love feels and wants.
What we have
ignorantly come to label as “old testament doctrine” is, in fact, the definition of “True
Love” biblically. Instead of doing what pleases God, we do what pleases
us and claim to love God. Meanwhile, the ABSENCE OF “THE FEAR OF GOD (LOVE FOR GOD)” is the
reason we live as we please and not as it pleases God.
To fear God is to love God. To love God is to do as He wishes.
Remain in
the blessings of the Lord as you remain in Christ.
MD.
