I wondered why I was in the queue of accused at all. I am intelligent, aggressive, young, totally committed to my God. What am I doing here with this sheet of supposed sins in my hand I wondered?
I don’t drink, I don't smoke, I don’t fornicate, I don’t steal, I am righteous. Others should be here not me.
It was finally my turn to face the Man.
I placed my sheet before Him, He glanced at it and sighed softly. He looked at me and calmly said, ‘Guilty of idol worship.'
Imagine my anger, my fury, my indignation. I jumped out of the chair and said ‘Of course not! Check the sheet again, check the name, It can't be mine.’
He sighed again and mentioned one of my names that no one knows.
I would not be stopped. It's impossible’ I yelled. I worship only God, the Most High, Maker of heaven and earth, the King of kings and Lord of lords. I bow down to none, I have no talisman, no amulet, no pot underneath my bed.
‘You are guilty of idol worship’ He repeated calmly.
He looked at me, I looked at Him. It seemed like forever. The room was silent. I could hear the clock ticking.
Then slowly I understood.
I am never late for bus/train station or air flight but I am always late to church - I blinked.
My payments to services I enjoy eg: Dstv, phone bills etc, are never late but I haven’t given offerings/tithes in three months - I looked down.
When meeting one of our local chiefs last week I would not even pick a call in the presence of earthly royalty, but I WhatsApp in church
I wouldn’t interrupt my performance appraisal with my boss for anything but I missed church last week because of a series on TV
I wouldn’t let a day end without talking to my spouse but today I just said Hi God, Bye God. And I didn’t even pray last night - The room began to feel hot.
I would never miss going to the bank because of the weather but I missed fellowship on Wednesday and Friday because it was drizzling .
I would wear my party colors to party meetings and not care what anyone thought of me but I hate to talk to my workmates about God because of what they will think of me.
I always have the latest tech gadget you can think of but my bible is so worn out. I can’t even find the book of Jude in my bible anymore.
The last thing to touch before going to bed is my phone and the first thing in the morning....chating on whatapp or replying offline messages. And never bordering to talk with God or reading His word.
I felt so hot in the room, a nervous sweat on my forehead, I felt so ill and weak, all of my anger and self-righteousness was gone, leaving immense guilt in its wake.
I slowly got of the chair and knelt by His feet and said ‘I am sorry, I am guilty as charged, Guilty of idol worship, guilty of placing others; humans, technology before You. I am guilty of idol worship.’
He smiled gently, looked at me with those passionate eyes of His full of love and He gave me a fresh sheet!and said, Deliver souls!!
