Vision 9
WE REMEMBER Martin Luther King Jr. – the first and the only American to have a national holiday in his name. We remember him for his relentless pursuit of total freedom for the people of colour in the US. For some of us in this nation, Mr. King has become a hero we love to identify with.
Welcome to Leading Right. I am Abiodun Fijabi.
To emulate Mr. King in our desire to change our society, we must start from where he started. Not from a dream but from a pure conscience. A heart that answered not to the fallen nature of man but to a higher law of God. A conscience that sends distress signals when the rights of others had been trampled upon. A mindset that recognized the limitations of the present but not bound by them.
Only on such consciences can the seed of change thrive. It was Tozer that said,”God speaks to the man who cares.” Only such consciences can inspire a dream that changes the course of human history.
At least, it was such a conscience that inspired Martin Luther King Jnr.’s dream. It was also such a conscience that gave birth to William Wilberforce’s dream. In 1784 William Wilberforce became a Christian and immediately proceeded on a mission to change his ways. This he accomplished through a disciplined Bible study and prayer life. As his Christian convictions deepened, the evil of slave trade and the decadent British social manners began to engage his attention. So engaging were these issues that Wilberforce was once quoted as saying, “God Almighty has placed before me two great objects – the abolition of the slave trade and the reformation of manners of England.”
We need to recapture our God-given consciences. As we allow him the lordship of our lives, we become partakers of his love for humanity. His love will be poured in our hearts by His Spirit. Our love for humanity will compel us to develop visions that uplift the human society. We will act decisively and effectively for the good of mankind. We can never out of good conscience consent to the dehumanization of man under any guise. The warning alarm will be too loud for us not to hear.
Moving closer to God will increase our sensitivity to rightness and wrongness. There is no doubt; God knows what is right for us and our society. He knows when we are living below our full potentials. He knows when our society is derailing from the goals he has set for it. And to be sure, he is not only interested in the so-called spiritual matters. All matters that concern his world – art, science, technology, economy and the like – are all within his circle of concern. In these and other areas, he has the best ideas, which he is willing to share. And when anything goes wrong, he raises alarm in the hearts of those who care and challenges them to act.
Dear listener, what efforts would you make today to recapture your God-given conscience? The closer you are to your maker, the more readily he will share with you his vision for you and for the orderliness and progress of his world.
Welcome to Leading Right. I am Abiodun Fijabi.
To emulate Mr. King in our desire to change our society, we must start from where he started. Not from a dream but from a pure conscience. A heart that answered not to the fallen nature of man but to a higher law of God. A conscience that sends distress signals when the rights of others had been trampled upon. A mindset that recognized the limitations of the present but not bound by them.
Only on such consciences can the seed of change thrive. It was Tozer that said,”God speaks to the man who cares.” Only such consciences can inspire a dream that changes the course of human history.
At least, it was such a conscience that inspired Martin Luther King Jnr.’s dream. It was also such a conscience that gave birth to William Wilberforce’s dream. In 1784 William Wilberforce became a Christian and immediately proceeded on a mission to change his ways. This he accomplished through a disciplined Bible study and prayer life. As his Christian convictions deepened, the evil of slave trade and the decadent British social manners began to engage his attention. So engaging were these issues that Wilberforce was once quoted as saying, “God Almighty has placed before me two great objects – the abolition of the slave trade and the reformation of manners of England.”
We need to recapture our God-given consciences. As we allow him the lordship of our lives, we become partakers of his love for humanity. His love will be poured in our hearts by His Spirit. Our love for humanity will compel us to develop visions that uplift the human society. We will act decisively and effectively for the good of mankind. We can never out of good conscience consent to the dehumanization of man under any guise. The warning alarm will be too loud for us not to hear.
Moving closer to God will increase our sensitivity to rightness and wrongness. There is no doubt; God knows what is right for us and our society. He knows when we are living below our full potentials. He knows when our society is derailing from the goals he has set for it. And to be sure, he is not only interested in the so-called spiritual matters. All matters that concern his world – art, science, technology, economy and the like – are all within his circle of concern. In these and other areas, he has the best ideas, which he is willing to share. And when anything goes wrong, he raises alarm in the hearts of those who care and challenges them to act.
Dear listener, what efforts would you make today to recapture your God-given conscience? The closer you are to your maker, the more readily he will share with you his vision for you and for the orderliness and progress of his world.
posted by Abiodun Fijabi at 6:21 PM
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