Passing through the mini grocery store, it is so obvious through the shop window, many turn the other eye but walking into the mall it is well placed towards the entrance, so that all that pass through the kiosk and shopping isles would notice her, she is difficult to miss, for her sketches are visible on the road side commercial billboards, her artwork is in high demand and advertisers have made fortune by using her for product marketing. Her footage and prints are visible through the night hour when men were meant to rest after their days labour, but the restless men in hotels and in the corner of their own homes stumble into her through the midnight television and satellite programs. The issues of life overwhelm the mind and the excitement of man’s ambitious achievement, fill their minds with thoughts of ‘I have now arrived’ only to tune in to the nightmare channel of the night, the destroyer of life, marriages and destiny, the great polluter and armed robber of good things; the eraser of innocence and the enemy of righteousness that turned the satellite box that was purchased for pleasure into an object of displeasure, convert the family treasure to familiar pain, bringing her victim into a life of secrecy, shamefulness, humiliation, a life of lies; making men happy for the moment and on the long run, deluded men of truthfulness, and deprive her victim the God kind of life or having exceeding joy and from obtaining immeasurable success, deriving unimaginable profits, accomplishing indescribable victories and achieving exceeding greatness. It promises pleasure but it’s a game of enslavement. How?
She is a subject of debates on the street by kids and young adults who have seen her in the schools, learnt about her, she is well spoken of in business meetings and modelled in the board room to boost company image. Tuning to the radio from work in the evening or at home in the night time, her voice is heard on the radio by the rich, the poor, the fathers and the sons. She is talked about in the high places, it is a free world they said and there should be freedom of speech, views and what men buy with their own money, so it is considered legal not just to behold her, but she can be touched, and could be taken home by those who desire her and are able to afford her price.
She is well presented and modelled through the cat walk, from the “Hollywood” to the “Bollywood” “Nollywood” and the “Nudyworld” of our society by those considered to be “the prim and proper” little do they know that it is an accursed thing. So many innocent kids and young adult who are the future of our nations, our humble brothers and our respected fathers, the loving husband and single men and single parents; our trusted clergy and lay men, men from different religious sects, wrongly assumed that if she is good for one, she should be considered good for all. For those who like her not or choose not to look in her direction or have her as a treasure, she is imposed on them without words; paraded before their eyes with a mission of turning the freemen to her slave men; making them captives without physical chain and lock. They have become victims of mind paralysis, mental instability, sufferers of habitual pain and traumatic experiences, victims of invisible imprisonment and shameful acts.
Though they are still persons with names and fames, they are still the subject matter experts in most professional fields and are still known in the political parties, they are service men on public duties, the parliamentarians, and the physicist in our hospitals, the psychologist, innovators and scientist. They are known among the religious and non-religious groups; or in our children’s schools, they are still married or divorced or are single men doing business as usual, men living and seen outwardly as the “ok” men but inwardly they are empty inside, for the internal experience does not match the external showbiz.
It is all about faking life to make it look as if they lovingly love the life they live. What a catastrophe! The seller has sold to many the unsellable commodity that entrapped men in the cage of the idol of their own habit, purchased with their own money which was gained from their hard work, or from the reward of their ambitious performance, or stolen from their spouse or from their family, enemies and friends. They have grabbed the ungrabbeable and touched the untouchable; having seen the unseen able but there is yet a cry in the heart of men from every nation who cares to know from the prison to the palace, calling a question. How did he get into it and how have we legalised it?
It started with a quick turn to the wrong aisle, he saw and he had a quick glimpse at her, resulting in an instantaneous look, he selected the pop up image, navigated to the page to see the details by drilling down to her image. He listened to her voice for few seconds; for her appearance is like a rose shrub in the garden without knowing that it is deceptive and could be dangerous. Her petals from afar is brood and dirt-free, so colourful and the variation of her colours makes it tempting and good to behold, its red like crimson; who would not behold this image he said in his mind. He got attracted to her and thought it was only for the moment but while others admire her shinning, her good looking and her petals from afar, his mere attraction to her has grown to a desire. He suddenly got hooked up with the look and became devoted to her appearance until that quick nano seconds look progresses to a touch. Touching her becomes like being snared in a death trap, sentencing his own mind to the prison of a dreadful and deadly habit but yet he took her home without any resistance not knowing the damage that is ahead. Jos 7:20-21
He went home with her beautiful look in his mind and she became a delight to his soul, whether he is in the public place with a companion of one or many; in the market place or in the business center, in the pub or in the palace, among friends or family he is always physically present but absentminded, for his mind was engulfed and captivated by what his eyes had behold and his hands had touched. The quick excitement soon turned into an internal torment for her invisible voice of “must have” has so dominated his soul, clouded his reasoning and blinded his eyes from the truth of God’s word. He dived into the world of uncleanness taking his own money which is the fruit of his labour and the proceeds from his investment to purchase a long term habits, yoking him with a lifestyle of pornography, drug addiction, alcoholism, prostitution, mention it… etc.
However, it resulted in the abuse of his own body by embracing the unnatural use of what was given to him by God, developing an uncontrollable appetite and lustful desire that led to an imprisonment that is too shameful to discuss but needed to be maintained by cook or crook. A gentle, kind hearted man, brother, son or husband, a smart and intelligent entrepreneur becoming a wanderer in the world of confusion; groping in darkness as if it was in noonday. The once celebrated became the humiliated, the once favoured now swimming in disfavour, the all-time victorious army became defeated in his battle against a low graded army, the armies on horses running from the battle field away from the civilians that are walking bare footed. He that was once the king of the jungle had become fearful of his prey, the accepted has now become the rejected for he that was once known to be sincere, pure and holy had become polluted and his pollution is having an adverse impact on his life, family and world. It does not take time for others to give up on him, the wife, the friends, the colleagues, business partners and political allies who were now looking at him from afar; for he has resigned to fate and given up on himself, isolating himself by himself from himself, trading the path of self-denial, and afraid of facing the degradation that landed him in a shameful place and an embarrassing state. Many thought it is over for him so he feels like ending it. But who is this? 2 Cor 6:14-19, Jos 7:1-12
Beloved, is this you or it resembles the “Achan” in your camp? Does it sound like your son, your brother, your husband or your manager at work? Could this be your enterprise manager, your COO and CEO, the community, national, religious and non-religious leaders who once know the truth but have embraced a lie having grabbed the ungrabbeable, touched the untouchable; having seen the unseen able?
Here is the word of God designed for your deliverance: “Be strong and courageous, rend your heart and not your garment, return to the LORD your God, for he is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and abounding in love, and he relents from sending calamity”. It is not over yet, you can let go of the accursed thing, the idol of your habits and return to God for his arms of love is open wide to receive you. And His irresistible power remains strong to destroy the yoke of the habits in your life regardless of what they are and how long you have been entrapped by the same, Mercy is available for you through the blood of Jesus, receive the gift of God’s love to you today, come out of the cage of destructive habits and be made free in Jesus Name. Jos 1: 6-9, Joe 2:13, Jos 7:20-21, Jam 5:16.
Consider this:
- “This then is the message which we have heard of him, and declare unto you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all. If we say that we have fellowship with him, and walk in darkness, we lie, and do not the truth: But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin. If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.” [1 John 1:5-10 KJV]
- Achan replied, “It is true! I have sinned against the LORD, the God of Israel. Among the plunder I saw a beautiful robe from Babylon, 200 silver coins, and a bar of gold weighing more than a pound. I wanted them so much that I took them. They are hidden in the ground beneath my tent, with the silver buried deeper than the rest.” [Jos 7:20-21 NLT]
- “And what union can there be between God’s temple and idols? For we are the temple of the living God. As God said, I will live in them and walk among them. I will be their God, and they will be my people. Therefore, come out from among unbelievers, and separate yourselves from them, says the LORD. Don’t touch their filthy things, and I will welcome you. And I will be your Father, and you will be my sons and daughters, says the LORD Almighty”. [2Cr 6:16-18 NLT]
- And it shall come to pass in that day, [that] his burden shall be taken away from off thy shoulder, and his yoke from off thy neck and the yoke shall be destroyed because of the anointing. [Isa 10:27 KJV]
