YOU WILL BECOME A REFERENCE POINT TOMORROW!

Dearly Beloved, YOU WILL BECOME A REFERENCE POINT TOMORROW! “The memory of the righteous is blessed, but the name of the wicked will rot” (Proverbs 10:7 NKJV). Proverbs 10:7 (quoted above) is widely quoted mostly when remembering the dead. However, many good people can be remembered while they are still living, and their memory will be a blessing. Conversely, the memory of many people who are still living is a curse! An incident that happened recently confirms this. One of my old secondary school mates posted a funny cartoon of a teacher beating a student with a long cane on the WhatsApp group page of our old classmates. He then asked members of the group a question to identify who among our former teachers that the teacher in the cartoon represents. Many of us started mentioning some of our former teachers when we were in school in the 1980s that we believed were notorious for disciplining students with cane. As each of us was mentioning a teacher, the other old school mates would pass a funny comment about the teacher, and the others would attest to it with other hilarious comments. This continued until one of the old school mates asked about the whereabouts of a particular former teacher. The discussion changed immediately from jesting to praise singing as the old classmates started talking about the good character of this particular teacher and how they could not forget him for the positive impacts he has made in their lives even after thirty years. I was greatly moved with these good reports about somebody who had diligently and unwittingly done his duty over thirty years ago, and people can still be remembering him for his good deeds years after. Fortunately, the teacher is still living and I did not hesitate to share the discussion on the group chat with him. The memory of the righteous is indeed blessed. What would people say about you if your name is mentioned in their hearing? What would you be remembered for even now that you are still living? Would you be glad if people start to recount what you have done many years ago? This reminds me of a Yoruba axiom: “Arise ni arika; arika ni baba iregun. Ohun ti a ba se ni oni, oro itan ni bi o ba di ola” [literally: “What one did or does is what people will recount; what people will recount about one is the father of reference point. What one does today will definitely become history tomorrow”]. Beware of what you are doing today. You will become a reference point tomorrow either for good or for evil. Here is another Yoruba axiom: “Iyan ogun odun a maa jo ni ni owo” [literally, one can still feel the warmth of the pounded yam of twenty years, that is, one will still have repercussions for what one did many years ago]. Will your memory by other people be a blessing or a curse, even while you are still living? In His service, Bayo Afolaranmi (Pastor). Prayer Point: Pray that you will be mindful of what you are doing today so that your remembrance will be a blessing, and not a curse, to you and your descendants.