There are many bad drivers in town. When you enter a car with a bad driver, you’ve got these choices. You either complete the journey and face the consequences or terminate the journey in the middle of the way or decline to embark on the journey in the first instance. The latter is the safest place to be. There are many good drivers in town. In this new year, why don’t you employ drivers like integrity, mutual respect, love, truth…
We hired a local driver to help us navigate our way across the city of East Legon and even within some parts of Accra. The guy was reckless, mindlessly and thoughtlessly overtaking vehicles ahead of him in a manner I hadn’t seen in recent times. Coming from a very organised society, I was extremely uncomfortable with this driver. Why are you in a hurry, I asked? This is my style of driving, he replied. You have to slow down, I responded. And to take the matter to a higher level of recklessness, he saw a government motorcade pulling over at top speed from behind us to face the oncoming vehicles, and sped behind them with full throttle. What are you doing? Don’t worry sir, I know the drivers of the motorcade, and we have worked together as colleagues in a government function. That was his response.
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That was when I knew that we had joined forces with a dangerous man. I couldn’t hold it any longer. We had paid him for the entire day’s trip. I switched into my mentorship mode. Do you know that I could recommend you to friends and colleagues in Canada and the US coming to Accra for holiday, I told him?
Imagine how much money you could make if I put your profile on social media as one of the best tour guides in Accra? But I don’t think I would be willing to do that. He slowed down, looked at my eyes with ecstasy, and asked, why sir? My reply was simple. Their lives are not safe in your hands. You are a reckless driver. You have prioritised your mode and style of driving above the interest and safety of your customers. That was a capsule for patience for this gentleman. We managed him till we completed the ride for the day, and swiftly changed to a more responsible and reasonable driver. The plan was to use him for a couple of days. But now, he didn’t just lose the revenue from our continued patronage, but all other referral privileges.
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A perfect lesson for the beginning of the year.
A lot of us are being driven around by dangerous drivers with no guarantee of reaching our final destination. Some of you are being driven around by addiction to sexual immorality. This is a very cruel driver. You are wondering why doors keep getting shut at you or why good things keep eluding you, but have not been honest enough to fire this driver and hop into the car of a driver called, “self-control.”
Mr Self Control is one of the best drivers in town. It teaches you to stick to your wife in all faithfulness and dedication. It teaches you to take your eyes off every other woman or man on the street. It teaches you to never allow your erection to determine your direction. Mr Self Control teaches you to avoid all opportunities to expose yourself to unnecessary temptations that ultimately lead to the capture of your soul.
A lot of us are desperate for change in our lives but are never ready to pay any price for change. Albert Einstein is credited with these famous words, “Insanity is to be doing the same thing and be expecting different results.” You need to take responsibility over the choice of the driver of your destiny. Nobody will take that responsibility for you. There is a price for success. There is a price for motion.
This driver creates an environment of dignity and respect.
Some of us entered this year inside the car of a driver called, “corruption.” Anything goes for us to make money. Whether by stealing physical cash or electronic cash, it is anything goes for Mr Corruption. Every nation that has this driver at the centre of its world never ends well. Mr Corruption, like my famous driver in Accra, loves overtaking other cars. It loves reaching out to those things beyond its reach.
It loves showmanship. It is purely egocentric in nature. Mr Corruption loves the best houses in town; the best cars; the fattest and largest bank account — all at the expense of other people’s sweat. Rather than hopping out quickly from the car of Mr Corruption, some of us are dancing to the immoral music of greed being played in the car. The ultimate end of a corruption ridden life is the loss of respect, dishonour, shame, and in many cases, lost values and virtues. Taking it further from a Biblical standpoint to which I subscribe, eternal damnation is the ultimate end of a life being driven by corruption.
The alternative driver to Mr Corruption is Mr Contentment. It drives slowly, but will certainly not overtake others mindlessly and thoughtlessly. It is a guaranteed mode of transportation to a peaceful end.
A lot of us are desperate for change in our lives but are never ready to pay any price for change. Albert Einstein is credited with these famous words, “Insanity is to be doing the same thing and be expecting different results.” You need to take responsibility over the choice of the driver of your destiny. Nobody will take that responsibility for you. There is a price for success. There is a price for motion. Isaac Newton would say, “every object remains in a state of rest unless acted upon by an external force.” There is no better time of the year to take stock of the drivers of your life, evaluate their competences and core values, and make radical changes as necessary.
It is not too late to change your driver and turn over your life to the Lord Jesus, not the “other Jesus” that some pastors are mis-representing, but the real “Jesus of the Bible.” In His car, you are guaranteed to end well in time and in eternity.
Some of you need to change your church. You know that this church is driving you to perdition. You know that there are other good churches in town that model Jesus Christ, but your appetite for a classy and popular driver has made you to pitch your tent in the car of a dangerous church driver. Some of you are engaged to a potentially dangerous marital partner. You are not married yet, but you can clearly see that this man or woman is going to drive you to death. Rather than being objective and proactive at saving your future from a potential car wreckage, your desire for a beautiful and/or handsome marital driver has jaundiced your mind.
What is driving some of us is addiction to various evil vices: alcohol, pedophilia, gossip, pornography, abusive behaviour, and others. Each of these drivers is very dangerous to destiny fulfilment. Being a passenger in their vehicles brings a guaranteed car wreckage. You have to jump out of these vehicles and find a better driver.
There are many bad drivers in town. When you enter a car with a bad driver, you’ve got these choices. You either complete the journey and face the consequences or terminate the journey in the middle of the way or decline to embark on the journey in the first instance. The latter is the safest place to be. There are many good drivers in town. In this new year, why don’t you employ drivers like integrity, mutual respect, love, truth, kindness, compassion, self-control, meekness, contentment, humility, and above all, the Lord Jesus, whose company is the overall employer of these drivers?
It is not too late to change your driver and turn over your life to the Lord Jesus, not the “other Jesus” that some pastors are mis-representing, but the real “Jesus of the Bible.” In His car, you are guaranteed to end well in time and in eternity.
Ayo Akerele is the senior Pastor of Rhema Assembly and the founder of the Voice of the Watchmen in Ontario, Canada. He can be reached through [email protected]
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