In the days of old.. Well, not that old, but you get the idea. In the days of our grandfathers and great-grandparents (millennials, I mean); our ancestors washed at the main streams, played games in sets, celebrated each other’s wins openly, and cursed each other openly. From where I come from in the southern part of Nigeria, I believe that our greatgrands and their children openly consulted with the occult using curse words like ‘ogun a gbu e’, ‘awa a le e’ and many more. In fact, some of our grandparents were in line for priesthoods and shrine service when they reached a certain age.
It was at this stage and era of their lives that Christianity invaded their seemingly perfect lives. The church came and opened their eyes to a life that was more than just incantations, charms, jujus, talismans, and shrine service. Let me digress a bit; ask your grands, and they will also tell you.. Some of them, spiritually, took on animal shapes, sometimes to roam freely or even to attack their enemies in daylight or moonlight. Hmm, talk about the arrows that fly by day, pestilence that lurks in darkness, and the destruction that happens at noonday.
Who hooo! What a field day it was… Everyday! Can you imagine? I can! Because my parents never got tired of telling us how it went.. All the juicy events!. I’ll tell you one thing though, it stopped getting juicy when things got real.
You see, we have permitted civilization to sneak its way around our tradition and culture that we are Africans first!, before any other thing. Yea, yea.. I know many of you would frown at my points, but hear me out. We have embraced religion so much so that we use it as an excuse when real matters arise, and when those solutions don’t appear magically, we say religion failed us. Oga, check again.
2 Cor 10: 4-6 says (For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strongholds;)
5 Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ;
6 And having in a readiness to revenge all disobedience, when your obedience is fulfilled.
Hello! It’s right there! Jesus died and rose so he can establish his victory in us. Our weapons are not physical, meaning there is a fight to be fought, and he has given us weapons to win, but they are not your regular cutlass, daggers or pistols. They are in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus!. Now, when children of God fall in line on the battlefield, instead of putting on the whole armor of God as written in Eph 6:10-18, they switch to modern ways of solutions.
Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. 11 Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. 12 For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. 13 Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. 14 Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, 15 and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. 16 In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. 17 Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. 18 And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the Lord’s people.
Our greatgrands would be turning in their graves when they see how we wage war!. In their heads, they would go, “‘This is not how we fought in those days!’. Now, let’s not get it twisted. I’m ot talking about your regular usage of charms and jujus; I’m talking about the balls and the grit behind the fight!. Fight like a man that is possessed with victory!.
No wonder when the church came, and some of them were converted, they applied the same efforts, same energy, same zeal, same attention as they would if they still held on to their charms and talismans. They wake up at midnight to pray, they do prayer walks without announcements, they anoint their children’s pictures, they see pastors on behalf of their children and even go as far as doing what Barnabas did after he sold his belongings. If you don’t know what Barnabas did, go read your Bible, not telling you.
My point is, our grands and grandparents understand the assignment!. Little wonder Apostle Paul was mightily used. Same zeal as when he was Saul, same passion, same burning desire. Kai!.
Back to my story, reality kicked in, and it was no longer a tale to be told. Oh, before I delve in, I’d like you to know that everything written here is absolutely true and without any additives.
