Venerable Henry Adelegan
Text: “Remove not the ancient landmark, which thy fathers have set.” – Proverbs 22:28
MY father was behind the wheels with my mother beside her as they were taking me to Ibadan 45 years ago to resume secondary school as a boarding student. I sat quietly at the back of the car thinking about my provisions in the boot and the unknown years that laid ahead of me at Ibadan. Suddenly, my mother began to counsel me and what made me burst into laughter was when she said, “Henry, remember the son of whom you are”. I burst into laughter because I took that counsel in its literal form for I knew who my father was. Without explaining, she kept on repeating herself for the message to sink into my babyish skull. What she meant however was that, I must never forget our family values and not deviate from our ancient landmark of good behavioral conduct as I was about to leave the latitude of my parental control.
The Bible emphasizes the import of adhering to God’s set pattern, which is a prelude to enjoying His benefits, as nothing comes ala carte, or without a cost. There is a price to be paid for every benefit. It is compliance with His set standard through right behavioral conduct that opens the gateway to His blessings (cf Deut 28:1,2,15; Isaiah 1:19,20). Any deviation from His rules incurs His wrath, His anger and curses. One challenge that had bedeviled the human creation from the beginning had been obstinacy and disobedience. In Jeremiah 6:16, God instructed people of Israel to “…Stand you in the ways, and see, and ask for the old paths, where is the good way, and walk therein, and you shall find rest for your souls. But they said, We will not walk therein.” – what an irony!
God has a pattern for Christian life and living in every area of our lives ; marriage, business, parenting, friendship and our general conduct, as stipulated in His Holy books; and, any deviation from it incurs His wrath and manifests in challenges that cuts across the board and world. Your body, for instance, does not belong to you: it is His temple. Paul told the Corinthians in 1 Corinthians 6:19 that, “… know you not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which you have of God, and you are not your own?”. He explained it further in 1 Corinthians 3:17 that, “If any man defile the temple of God, him shall God destroy; for the temple of God is holy, which temple you are”. As children of God, your body does not belong to you. You are not supposed to distort His pattern and change the color of your skin, add to your body features, expose areas that are supposed to be covered, make your underwear your outerwear or wear torn pants in the name of fashion , neither are you expected to indulge in immoral sexual pleasures, drunkenness and carnal works because there are severe consequences for it now and more in the future.
His pattern for the prosperity and long life of any person has been set as instructed in Ephesians 6:2,3 that “Honor your father and mother, which is the first commandment with a promise so that it may go well with you and that you may enjoy long life on the earth”. While it is good to honor your alma mater, bless your society, be of importance to your club and assist your church, what will elongate your life and enlarge the scope of your influence is honoring your parents. Anything to the contrary is a distortion of set pattern by the Owner of life. A wife who is not submissive to her husband also and fails to accord “her own husband” respect (Ephesians 5:23), as enjoined in His commandment and disrespects him at will, rubbishes him impulsively and manifests pride because of the privilege of earthly things that shall expire has distorted set marital pattern. If you are doing that, you will hinder yourself from the experience and enjoyment of a marriage of eternal value as promised by God but will have a short tenor-bound cohabitation.
When a man does not love his wife, buying property only in his name and nothing in the name of the wife, not going out of his way to make her more comfortable and happy, talks anyhow to her, not protective of her, rubbishes her openly, does not take exceptional care of her, the pattern of the Lord has been distorted. The Originator of marriage said that, “Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave Himself for her. In this same way, husbands ought to love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself”. When you refuse to be sacrificial, in tandem with His landmark, you will have a house and not a home, and your prayers will not be answered (1 Peter 3:7)
Beloved in Christ, God places very high premium on His landmark as a prelude to your hallmark achievement and celebration. Whenever landmark is altered or His pattern distorted, He transfers His promises to another person. Saul was an example of a person who altered His pattern. God therefore sent Samuel to him that, “…The Lord has rent the kingdom of Israel from you this day, and has given it to a neighbor of yours, that is better than thou” (1 Samuel 15:28 cf Acts 1:24-26). His pattern distortion could also lead to kingdom termination or sudden death. Uzzah was a bad example of a man that was struck down by God when he took hold of the ark of God because the oxen stumbled. The Lord’s anger burned against him “because of his irreverent act” ( 2 Samuel 6:6-7)
Beloved in Christ, Jesus is calling you at this time of Lent to consider and amend your ways (Haggai 1:5). Are there areas where you are contravening or upsetting His set landmarks? Have you been disobedient to His laws and following your own ways? Please return to Him and ask Him to forgive you. He will restore you to Himself, revive all that rightly belongs to you as His child and a time of refreshing shall come for you.
Prayer: Oh Lord, bring me back to your ancient landmarks, give me grace to walk therein and restore my hallmark in the name of Jesus.
