We have been seen ants in considerable number sticking to sugar. We just look at
them briefly and disregard their activities. Of course they, too, are looking
for something to eat like every one of us are daily struggling to make two ends
meet. But there is something unique in the way they search for food, and I
believe that is the reason why God commanded man, “Go to the ant, thou sluggard,
consider her ways and be wise.” We may feel challenged, and ask, “Why should the
reasoning of man be reduced to the level of ant, an insect that depends only on
instinct?” God is all knowing and all powerful, He knows the end before the
beginning and He knows us more than the way we know ourselves. If He directs us
to go to the ant, it means there is an important thing that we can learn from
this insect. And until we learn it, we cannot attain the fullness of life that
is the ultimate of His expectation for man.
The ant, surprisingly have sense of direction. They know what they want, once
they come across it, they put in their best to get. Ants are hardworking. They
do not depend upon anybody’s counseling before they do what is needed to be
done. They do not have leaders and no overseers, they know how to store food
stuff in the summer. Helping other ants is natural to them. Ant does not need
any counselor to preach sermon on unity because they instinctively apply it in
their colony. Each ant devised a way of providing solution to the problems of
their colony instead of becoming a problem and headache to the colony. Imagine
ant rendering a self sacrificing act of forming a bridge by joining their tiny
legs together for other ants to cross into safety when it is necessary. Ant
could demonstrate the commandment of God as regard standing in gap for others.
How many times have you lived to the standard of this commandment? How many
times have you taken it upon yourself to intercede for others? The less
fortunate people among you are probably not noticed most of the times due to
volumes of things going on in your mind. Even if we a pay attention to them, “To
what extent have we helped their situations? A dollar we dole to them as alms
any time we see them in need may meet their immediately needs but it will not
put an end to their problems. The ant is about common-wealth and not
‘me-wealthy’ alone.
Perhaps you reflect upon your life and conclude, “I am not a lazy man after all,
therefore I do not have anything to learn from this tiny insect.” Wrong brother,
the word sluggard does not only refer to someone that is physically lazy. It
includes those who could not achieve their full potential due to indolence. When
the do-littles achieved a certain feat in life, they feel they are on top
of the world, little did they know that their so called achievement was like a
tip of iceberg of their potentials in life and they have not reached the stardom
of the major breakthrough that God intended for them. Besides, you may be
physically hardworking but spiritually lazy. This explains the reason why you
should reflect from the point of view of God and give a keen consideration to
this insect. In a nutshell, a lot can be learnt from ant if you can patiently
watch them with interest. I am very positive that Go to the Ant will be a
handy tool that will widen the scope of your understanding about the tiny but
wonderful insect.
FACTS ABOUT ANT
-
Ants are scavengers and mainly subsist on
discarded garbage. Invariably, they are efficient waste materials managers.
-
It does not destroy its environment; rather, it
destroys insects (termites) that destroy its environment. The carnivorous ants
destroy caterpillars that devour leaves of plants and termite that eat up the
building woods. It will be interesting to learn more about an insect that can
destroy the destroyers.
-
The major professions among men today are
available in the colony of ant: They engage in popular trades namely: They are
farmers, nurses, soldiers, groceries collectors, various workers, etc.
-
They have sophisticated system of communication
– they communicate without opening they mouth and they communicate
effectively. The art of communication does not stop at speaking and listening
until you update your life with the latest wisdom that the art of
communication revealed. The word of God is coming to us clearer and louder
every day. We claim we understand it but do we update our lives with the
wisdom of God. Perhaps the communication is one sided – God is communicating
but man is not listening.
-
Most of the soldier ants are blind and yet they
could defend their territory effectively. Their offence is superb in that when
they invade a farm, they send the farmer packing out of his hut in the middle
of the night. If the blind ant can be so effective in offense and defense it
means that the sophisticated military might of the world still has something
to learn from the ant.
OTHER ARTICLES OF MICHAEL A. ELEYINAFE
PUBLISHED BY WEST AFRICAN NEWSPAPER
IN DEFENSE OF A VIRTUOUS WOMAN
It started from Adam just before Eve was created. Adam would wake up in the
morning, walked up and down of the Garden of Eden. One can visualize him
harvested varieties of fruits for his daily meal, did all the chores of his
dominion and at the end of the day dropped down somewhere in the Garden and
slept off. Alone he was tending the Garden. Apart from the fellowship he had
with God at the cool of the day, there was nobody he could interact with. There
was nobody he could perfect the language that God had given him with. The
creation itself was perfect. The only thing that God described as imperfect
about creation is the loneliness of man. “And the Lord said, It is not good
that the man should be alone; I will make him an help meet for him.” Genesis 2:18
Something important was conspicuously missing. Adam could not figure it out. But
God understood the situation. There was no doubt that he was lonely, and God
noted his ordeal. A need arose but the Creator is up to the task. Please note
the key word. God said I would make “an help-meet for him,” not against him.
Somebody is needed that would perfectly meet the criteria and needs of Adam. A
help meet would become a partner with Adam and not a contender with him. A help
meet would bring about mutual love, mutual attraction and mutual understanding
between the two of them. A help meet that Adam could relate with, plan with,
walk hand in hand with and trust concerning the calling of God in his life. The
purpose of Eve in the life of Adam is to fill the empty vacuum of his life. God
carefully planned and customized the creation of Eve to be compatible with the
needs of Adam.
The Lord Almighty, a thoughtful Father knew that they
should have something important in common before the criteria compatibility
could be met. Let us think of it; the dust from which Adam was created was not
in short supply, the breath of live was still with the Ancient of Days, but He
chose to create Eve in a unique way for a unique purpose. God Almighty caused
Adam to fall into a deep sleep and his rib bone was removed to create the first
female human being. That was it. God created Eve to be a blessing to Adam.
The relationship between man and woman is divinely designed that during
interaction and sweet fellowship between them man may exchange gift as the Lord
has bless him with his wife. At the point of receiving everything that a man can
give his wife, God intercept the gift, bless it, and cause it to multiply in her
hand. Imagine beloved of the Lord, one rib-bone of Adam is multiplied to become
all the skeletal bones in the body of Eve. A virtuous woman is designed to be a
blessing in the home of a man, because when a little gets into the hand of a
woman, it becomes a lot. Man possesses millions of manhood-seeds but none of
them can result into a whole human being in a man but when few of these seeds
get into a woman, nine months later, the family will increase. From everlasting
to everlasting, even in the age of cloning, woman has been the vessel that God
used to give life to every human being on the surface of the earth. If man
desires the blessing of God to the fullest, woman is an inevitable individual
that man should deal with harmoniously along the journey of his life. “Whoso
findeth a wife findeth a good thing, and obtained favor of the Lord.” Proverb
18:22 KJV
Women are described in the Bible as a weaker
vessel. Presumably this has to do with their physical ability. Naturally, God
created them mentally rugged. It isn’t for nothing when Solomon says in
Ecclesiastes 4:9-10, “Two are better than one …For if they fall, the one will
lift up his fellow …” When an unfavorable hand of economy hits the
breadwinner of some home, a virtuous woman tends to pick up the mantle of the
bread winner for the family for a while until condition of the family becomes
better. She would pilot food from the market to the kitchen and from kitchen to
the dining table. At the end of the day she will still make herself available
for an intimacy with her husband. It takes a mentally rugged person to carry a
pregnancy of about 40-pound weight for nine months, although the weight
increases from absolutely nothing and gradually to the enormous size. It takes a
mentally rugged person to go through the ordeal of labor in childbirth. Taking
into consideration the general weakness of body that always accompany
childbirth, it takes a mentally rugged individual to be sensitive enough to pick
up the tiny cry of a new born baby when the woman deeply asleep, still manage to
crawl out of bed, and still able to nurse the baby.
Virtuous woman can be likened with a goose that lays
golden eggs in the home of her husband that must be handled with utmost care so
that she may continue to help him to do those things that alleviates
difficulties of man. But something is quite interesting; some men hardly set
aside time to extend tender loving care towards their wives from time to time so
that he can enjoy another round of help. Some men hardly think that his
help-meet needs some element of encouragement. The caring of man’s help-meet
begins with a simple appreciation. It includes regular fellowship with her in
appreciation of her efforts in your home. This is like a fuel that virtuous
woman needs to take her through another round of help for her man. A due honor
unto her as the queen of your home and encouragement will act as grease in the
engine shaft of her helping hands that will completely suppresses friction in
the family. An unconditional love and respect will permanently cement joy of the
Lord in their harmonious relationship. The termites and the bees understand and
appreciate this precious relationship better. They see their queen as a pillar
in their colonies. They see prosperity in her. They behold strength in her.
They build around the queen. They nurture her and treat her with utmost care and
respect.
Every unit of families on earth is a project in the hand
of God. God intends that each family may be a reflection of His glory. God
appointed a man as the spiritual leader of the family to oversee the affairs of
the family. An adage says, “Charity begins at home.” The dominion of a man on
earth starts from his family. Man must lead in setting goals and rules. Those
goals and rules must not only have human face and entrenched in love and
righteousness, but the man must also lead in the family by living each day
according to the rules he had set. As a leader he must lead by example. Their
heaven will manifest on earth in their home.
THE
UNDERESTIMATED TALENT
A
talent in the context of the parable is a variable unit of currency used in
ancient Roman Empire. It is worth more than one thousand dollars in US currency.
In all His parables, Christ always used enduring symbols, everyday things that
existed in his time period and continue to exist in ours. These symbols drive
home his teaching and his principles, making it practically impossible for man
to forget what he learned. Even if the principles are forgotten, the parable
lives on in our minds. There is one thing that is amazing about the parables of
Jesus Christ: they cannot be outlived. Whenever a parable from Jesus Christ
comes to the understanding of man, it always brings forth indisputable facts.
The meaning of the parable becomes new every day as we increase in the level of
our meditations. The rapid changes of the modern era cannot make His parables
become obsolete or anachronistic. In fact, some of the parables are manifested
in many current events.
The dictionary definition of “talent” states that it is a marked innate ability
or natural endowment. In this parable, Christ uses talents to point the Church
to the gift that God gave to mankind. God gave us all the ability to be
channels of His Glory. Talent is not an acquired skill or wisdom. Talents of
God are quiet gifts that manifest in opportunities, wisdom, understanding and
unquantifiable instinctive abilities – this includes the ability to make wealth.
Many of the wealthy people of our time think their wealth results from their
personal abilities.
One of the most important talents is opportunity, and it is the most trivialized
talent. Many people are of the opinion that God did not give them talents.
Contrary to their thought, God gave everyone on the surface of the earth a
talent. It is your ability to manage your talents that determines how many you
will have. For example, the servant who had ten talents was given one more
because he had shown that he could manage 10. You may not be extremely wise and
perhaps you do not have great understanding. You may not think you possess the
ability to do great things, but certainly you have one powerful talent --
opportunity. Opportunity is the most underrated but the greatest of all gift of
God. The talent of opportunity is to man the way an operating system is to
computer. Opportunity is the vehicle of all talents of man and it is the medium
through which man manifests his talents for the glory of God. It is also the
medium through which God appraise the usage your talent and commend or condemn
the worth of it. The result of the application of the usage of talent speaks for
people who put their talents to work through the opportunity that was available
to them. Conversely, the mouth of the wicked servant that reports a reason why
he did not put his precious talent into use invites condemnation and judgment.
In this parable, the master did not place much emphasis on the gain made on the
talents. Rather, his anger was centered against the man with one talent that
refused to use his own gift. Opportunity presented itself to the servant but he
never put the talent to use and as a result he could not account for a gain or a
loss. It is a great opportunity that we are able to behold the glory of God each
day. David was talking of the importance of talent of opportunity and he said in
his Psalm, “This is the day that the Lord has made, let us rejoice and be
glad in it.” (Psalm 118:24) It is a great opportunity that we can walk
around on our own; when we come across those without legs we will see the reason
why we should use those legs to walk into the environment where God will be
glorified. It is of the Lord’s kindness and mercy that we are not mentally
insane. If you have been to a mental home you will see the reason why we should
apply our wisdom to glorify God whenever the opportunity permits us. We are
presented a talent of opportunity to know the revealed truth of the word of God
so that we can justify it to operate upon the revealed truth to set us free. We
are at different places at different times as opportunity avails in order that
we may operate on our talents in touching others and leaving behind the trail of
God’s glory.
Some think that we must get to heaven before giving account of what we did with
our talents. It is not your talent that calls you into the service of God.
Instead, it is whatever you do with your talent that becomes your righteous
services towards humanity and therefore, God. The way you touch them with the
beauty of Jesus Christ is a return on the gift God has given you. Your talent of
opportunity accounts for itself before the Almighty God when you cash in on it
to glorify God.
Abraham was sitting by his tent near the Mamre tree at the heat of the day, and
then he saw three strangers. Opportunity presented itself to Abraham to be used
for the glory of God. It was available for Abraham to extend God’s attribute of
loving kindness to the supposedly strangers. Abraham hurried out to invite the
strangers in and little did he know that he was inviting divine visitation to
his home. He lavishly entertained them; he did not know that he was rendering an
account to the Creator of all the talents He had given him. The righteous
application of the opportunity given to Abraham spoke for itself. God did not
give verbal commendation to Abraham for the entertainment like the master did in
the parable of Jesus Christ. The Heavenly God did more: He gave him the heir of
the promise. He said, “I will surely return to you about this time next year,
and Sarah your wife will have a son.” (Genesis 18:10)
In the pathway of your life, when you come across the destitute, the orphans or
anyone you can touch with the love of God, apply the underestimated talent of
opportunity. You never know, Heaven might have come down in your presence to
evaluate your talent. “Anyone, then, who knows the good he ought to do and
doesn’t do it, sins.” (James 4:17)
When opportunity prompts you, show a little kindness to demonstrate Christ
ambassadorial attributes in you. Heaven will surely return to you with blessing
when you least expected it.
WALKING
EXTRA MILES WITH GOD
On August 27, 2002 a Christian sister accompanied Pastor Chris, a visiting
minister to our Christian Fellowship in New York, to give a testimony about her
supernatural healing of a full blown AID/HIV. She recounted her ordeal in living
between life and death with uncountable diseases due to the lack of immunity in
her body chemistry, as result of the AID/HIV disease. She was suffering
diabetics, kidney failure, and other catalogue of diseases that completely
rendered her life hopeless and useless. She cannot use the public utilities for
the fear that she might spread communicable diseases that associated with
AID/HIV. She became an eye-sore in the society. She lost her job she was reduced
to doing menial job to keep the body and soul together. But she kept waiting
momentarily in faith that God is bringing her healing, regardless of the
threatening of the cold hand of death knocking at the door of her life. As faith
would have it, she came across Pastor Chris in a Christian Crusade who prayed
for her. That was the beginning of her miracle. She said she was getting better
each day until she was completely healed. She said she did many AID/HIV tests to
confirm the healing until she was told not to come to the hospital for test
anymore. She came to the Fellowship with different AID/HIV tests that all read
negative. She also told us that after her healing, she contested her
discriminatory termination of employment in the court and the case was decided
in her favor and her four year salary was paid to her and was completely restore
in her position with projected promotion. She resolved that she is ready to give
the testimony of her healing to the whole world as an evidence of the mighty of
power of God so that her healing may become a faith and salvation launching pad
for others.
Listening to the
way she recounted her ordeal of this horrible disease brought tear to my eyes
and to all that were present in the Christian meeting. Her testimony expanded my
understanding of the ordeal of Mary Magdalene before Jesus Christ delivered her
from the clutches of seven demons. I can see through the eyes of Mary what it is
to be possessed with seven evil spirits. I can understand the reason for her
love for the Lord because, to whom much is given, much is expected. Peter and
the rest of the apostles of Jesus were all called to follow the Lord. For those
three years they were with the Lord they only witnessed deliverance and
miracles. They did not have an idea of what it was to be possessed by seven
deadly wicked evil spirits. They did not know what it was to be an instrument
in the hand of Satan. Perhaps Mary Magdalene was dwelling in the grave before
she came across Jesus Christ. Perhaps she was totally locked-in under the
bondage of Satan in the spiritual realm. Perhaps the evil spirit was making her
to perpetrate the evil she did not want. Perhaps Mary was cutting herself with
stone and violently destroying herself and any other thing she had access to
when she was under the influence of the evil spirit before her deliverance. Mary
truly understood and appreciated what it was to be free, and she showed it by
her love and her determination to follow her Deliverer, Jesus Christ.
She never
departed from the Lord her Savior, even death could not severe the love she had
for her Redeemer. She was going in and out with the Lord in His ministry of
mercy, healing our infirmities and showing us the way to heaven. She was there
helplessly watching the travail of Jesus Christ in the hands of Pontius Pilate,
the Pharisees, Sadducees and the community of Jews that served as powerful
instruments in the hand of Satan when they shouted "Crucify Him! Crucify Him!"
She was in the company of the precious women that were watching Him in sorrow,
from a distance in the Place of Golgotha, amidst His mockers. "Among these
women were Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James and Jones and the mother of
Zebedee's sons." (Matthew 28:55-56)
Mary loved Jesus
while He was with us on earth, she loved Him while He was dying for us on the
Cross, even when He was laid in the tomb grave could not be a barrier against
her love for the Lord. She was at Jesus' tomb early on the first day of the week
while it was still dark. Mary discovered that
the big stone that covered the entrance of the tomb had been removed. She ran
back to the disciples to inform them of what happened. The disciples came and
Peter went into the tomb. He only saw the strips of linen lying and the burial
cloths. They all went back to their houses, but Mary stood still. She stood
outside the tomb weeping and wondering what might have happened to the body of
the Lord. With this heavy heart she bent down to look into the tomb once again
and she saw what was not revealed to Peter and the rest of the disciples who
went into the tomb.
She saw two
angels in the tomb that asked her, "Woman, why are you crying?" As she turned
around, she saw Jesus standing. At first, she thought he was the gardener, she
did not realize until Jesus Christ revealed Himself to her. She cried out in
Aramaic, "Raboni." Jesus replied, “Do not hold onto me, for I have not yet
returned to the Father. Go instead to my brothers and tell them, I am returning
to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.”
Appreciation may
not be measurable on a scale but it can be measured with the unalloyed love you
extend to your benefactor, it can be measured in your close-knit relationship
that his kindness led you to establish with him, it can be measured in your
services unto others as a direct consequence of the kindness of your benefactor.
The sum total of these chain reactions is the extra miles the loving kindness of
your benefactor caused you to walk. Because of the extra miles Mary Magdalene
walked in love and in faith with our Lord Jesus Christ, the "once upon a time
seven demon-possessed woman," the wretched sinner like you and me was blessed
with a rare experience. She beheld a living Jesus Christ at work in His ministry
of reconciliation on earth. She beheld a dying Jesus Christ on the Cross of
Calvary among the centurions who confessed His divinity when they said, "Truly
He is the Son of God." She beheld the buried Jesus in the sepulcher covered with
a big stone and being watched by the governor's soldiers. She beheld the empty
tomb and once again, after she took a second look at the tomb, the heavenly
hosts were revealed to her. She was the first person in this wide world to
behold the beauty of Jesus Christ in glory when He was resurrected.
The experience of
Elisha is similar to the Christian sister and Mary Magdalene but in another
dimension. Elisha walked extra miles with Elijah; Even the persuasion of Elijah
could not stop a resolute determination of Elisha. Along the line in the journey
of Elijah to eternity he asked Elisha, “What do you want me to do for you before
I am taken up?” Elisha replied, “That I may have a double portion of your
anointing.” “You have made a tall order,” Elijah said, “However, if you can see
me while I am taking away from you, you will have it.” Elisha journeyed on
steadfastly on the extra miles with his master and all of a sudden, his heaven
was opened; he saw a chariot of fire lifting his master, Elijah. He took his
mantle. There is always a miracle awaiting us in our righteous walk with God. It
always happens within the extra miles we walk with Him. At every point of your
life when you feel like quitting, that is the beginning of your extra miles with
God. It is always a sign that you are at the edge of your miracle. Even if the
road is rough, it will surely worth it if you are walking with the Lord. Don’t
quit; wait for your mantle!
For further
information about the Go to the Ant and other Michael’s books please contact him
at the underneath address:
Michael A. Eleyinafe
Christ Light Bearers Inc.
P. O. Box
141, New York, N. Y. 10163
www.christlightbearers.com
E-mail:
mike@christlightbearers.com
