Greetings!
To be very sincere, I've come to conclude that God is too merciful and He can let bad people live well without punishing them. This is based on what I have experienced in the few years of life I've spent on this earth. I've seen God letting people who are killing fellow humans go scot-free. I've also seen people who steal from church live without facing consequences, and I used to wish God would react strictly, striking any offender on the spot with thunder.
Okay, met me add, AS LONG AS THEY REPENT
What's the essence of all these?
Although I don't believe there's punishment for people who kill or steal from the church as long as they repent of their ways, stealing, in any form, is something I don't do, no matter how small it is. I've been tempted many times in strange ways to take a tip and join the ranks of those who have stolen, but I didn't do it.
Way back when I was yet to gain admission into a tertiary institution, I worked in our church at home as an accountant and was absolutely everything to the church because I was the only staff member. Due to trust and how loyal I was (and still am), I was entrusted with everything concerning the church, especially finances. My boss wasn't the type who loved bulky work in addition to his spiritual duties, so everything was totally on me. He didn't touch money; all he did was ask for records to put down his signature.
Along the way, our headquarters released millions of naira for our branch to purchase land to start building because we were living on renting. When the news spread, church members started flocking around to see if they could get their 'cut' because, according to them, the money was too big for the size of the land we were purchasing. They believed church money is everyone's money and they should get a share of it. These people didn't pretend about it; they came boldly to me, asking for a portion of the funds because they knew my boss wouldn't know due to how I managed the church money.
I didn't give in to them.
Throughout the process of purchasing the land, every single payment was handled by me, some in cash and some via cheques. There were days I carried up to 1 million naira in my bag to and from work. After the purchase, up to 700k was left in church account. That's when my phone broke down, and I didn't have any money to repair it. This phone was crucial for all my calls and office work.
Temptation arose for me to take just 15k from the 700k to repair my phone. You know how tempting those thoughts can be, right? I had thoughts like:
Mhen, the thoughts were heavy, but I didn't give in.
I didn't give in, not because I was afraid of what God would do to me (as a sinner), but because of my moral code. It's not my place to steal.
Meanwhile, the people I paid, especially the church members who facilitated the land deals, I know they added extra charges to get their share of the money because of "work-chop." Normally, I should get my share too because that's my 'workshop', but it's not my thing at all.
If I was scared of being punished by God, I could have collected the money to repair my phone and prayed for repentance afterward, but no, it's not my thing at all.
Thanks for reading.
This is my entry to the Week 123, Edition 01 of the Weekly Featured contest in Hive Learners Community
| Photos are mine |
