Hi pals... so about Yesterday during the weekend, I volunteered for an event in a local government area and because I was very unfamiliar with the terrain, the first rider I took drove me past the school I was meant to stop at.
When we got to a certain point, I inquired about my destination and he apologized because he had drove past it.
In essence, I had to find my way back.I entered another keke, and this second driver asked me, “Do you want me to enter inside the school?”
I said yes.
He took another route and stopped at what looked like the back entrance of the school.
Immediately I saw the place, my spirit became uncomfortable.
That entrance was a lonely path surrounded by refuse dumps, dirt, and filth.
As a spiritual person that I am, I tend to see life from a deeper perspective so I asked him, “Is there no other way to enter this school than this back entrance?”
The man kept trying to convince me to just enter from there because according to him, all way na way.
Some students nearby also tried to encourage me.“You can pass here, sir”. one of them quipped.
This is also a road. Another said and the first student tried to play the gentleman by extending his hand to help me carry my bag.
But I wasn't having it.
I said, “No, thank you"! If there is a cleaner and more proper entrance into this school, I want to pass through there.”
The driver then asked me,
“What if this back road was the only way in?
I answered him, “A school this big cannot have only one entrance and if this truly became the only way, then people would not keep refuse there.”
Eventually,I wearied him and he had to turn and take me to the main gate, the proper entrance by the roadside.
Today I say unto you,
Refuse the back door.
Refuse what is wrong, even when people normalize it. Refuse dirty pathways, refuse negative patterns from your father's house, refuse shortcuts that stain your spirit and drain your soul.
This is me saying that manny times in life, people will pressure you into accepting what is beneath you simply because “everybody does it.”
But everybody doing it does not make it right.
Sometimes even family, friends, social media, society, or culture will try to convince you to take the easier but polluted route.
Stand your ground.
Be like Elizabeth in the Bible who said, “Not so" His name will not be Zacharias, but John.
God is still looking for people who will say
“Not so.”
This pattern stops with me.
I will do things differently.
I will follow the right path.
Do not allow societal pressure push you into pathways your spirit is rejecting.
There is always another way.
There is always a cleaner path.
There is still a front gate.
So today, I want to encourage you.
Choose the right way even when it is longer. Choose integrity even when compromise looks easier. Choose purity over pollution. Choose obedience over pressure.
Look for the ancient paths and walk in them.
And may the Spirit of God give you the boldness to reject every wrong pattern that has appeared more convenient around you in Jesus name, Amen.
You're reading from your handsome friend John Petra!
