the main course...

Extra-curricular activities are activities we do aside and outside the main curriculum, and there are two examples I can remember now.
The first is the story of a young man who got admitted to a college and before he started attending classes had already become a member of the college football team, excellent soccer player , excelled on the pitch but couldn’t do much in classes , often times than not he was very tired after practice and personal drills each day , at the end of the term , he failed and couldn’t continue in the school team .
The second story is that of a very funny dramatic Nigerian ‘mother’, Mrs Omokorede , who was in her dauughter’s school on the open day with Funmi’s result , she saw the Arts teacher and the teacher was trying to explain to Mrs Omokorede the fact that one of Funmi’s paintings have already been admitted at the State gallery , Mrs Omokorede did not want to hear any of these , she saw Arts as a not so important subject and moved on to the Biology teacher to express her displeasure at a report that says funmi has little interest in Biology and more in French.
It is noteworthy that Mrs Omokorede desired Funmi to be a doctor and therefore thinks Funmi must have the knowledge of Biology, and she states her reasons for that desire, she wants to live in a big mansion, wants funmi to marry a doctor and also buy her a Nissan Micra , I hopefully will share this clip again to those who have not seen it.
Mrs Omokorede might have been wrong in determining what was major and minor for her daughter as no one can actually tell with regards to career as most of what I have reffered to earlier in the first two paragraph’s will be different if that boy who skipped classes ended up as KAKA or Messi, or if the girl became bigger than Micheal D’angelo.
I am actually not writing this piece for football or no football, latin or no French, arts or no biology , I am writing it to ask a few questions that I have sought to answer in the course of this week , WHAT REALLY COUNTS?, WHAT?.
This quickly takes me to one simple answer I found and I felt I should share with you,
I quote Luke 10:41-42(MSG)
“The Master said, Martha, dear Martha, you’re fussing far too much and getting yourself worked up over nothing . ONE THING ONLY IS ESSENTIAL, and Mary has chosen it- it’s the main course , and wont be taken from her”.
This piece is where my where heart, eyes and ear open , Its important to note that Martha was not lazy , she was active , she was actually worked up , but she was getting herself worked up over nothing, and after this insight I ask myself , what I am I doing , and what will it matter , how will it count , and he showed me a phrase in the quoted verse , MAIN COURSE.
A lot of us have chosen the sides and we are hungry and thirsty , a lot of us have been busy , worked up over nothing , worked up over here and now, over one day , one night , one meal , one year and a hundred years and yet ignore the main course of eternity .
A whole lot of us are lost in the hustle and bustle of the marketplace and have forgotten HOME, the real assignment , OH MY? As always , I am the NO 1 Guilty and I don’t always hide , I only share so we all can move upward and forward.
In the process of thinking , I reflected on how we so desire that the figures in our bank account increase and not our heavenly account, forgetting to laying up treasures where moth and rust cannot reach, how I would so love to do this , do that , get this and get that and totally ignore the purpose of the manufacturer of me , this product of the master , forgetting totally the message I was sent and deciding to just continue with whatsoever I desire .
I therefore urge and hope that my humble self and my all readers will actually choose the main course and deliver the message that we were actually sent , for I can liken this to being sent on an errand by an elder and after this long , we have not even done nothing about it , and Arugbo-ojo, (the ageless one ) has sent us on specific and peculiar errands , I hope you would start doing yours right away, as I hope to do same .
If this world passes away and the things I have lived for and hustled and jostled and struggled for all pass away , then of what value or importance is my life , I guess its time to lay up treasures in heaven , but don’t forget , before you go to heaven don’t say IFE says we should only take the main course and you then abandon the sides, Nope, All is to be enjoyed , For if God wanted to us to live so as to get to heaven , he would not have sent us to earth only to struggle to come back to heaven, He would have created us in heaven , I therefore think it is also important to , Have Dominion and Subdue the earth and Go ye into all the ‘WORLD’ both geographical and non-geographical , the business world , entertainment world , etc.
He said seek ye first , the kingdom of God and all other things shall be added unto you
Much Respect to men and women all over the world who have genuinely sought first, and taken the main course as main , 24/7 and much love to my brother Temiloluwa Ola who has heeded the Main Course beckon, GOD strengthen you and to Tolulope Moody, Israel is arising in many Jacobs! Gbam.
As joinder to the article, I add a song I learnt not really well years back
How is your inner man
How is your prayer life
How much of the word of God do you have in your life or you are just busy for him
Busy serving the lord
Busy preaching to all men
Do you really know the lord or you are just busy for him.


follow the servant @ifebamideleLP ON TWITTER

i am a CRIMINAL

My ONE TALENT
I must confess that I am not your usual every day or word session writer , but permit me to take some of your precious time , as this information I have has changed my life , thoughts and thinking in the last few days and will hopefully for the rest of my life .
At a church meeting I attended some days back, the sermon was about the parable of the talents and how and why we should not bury our talents, I am quite familiar with the story but God spoke to me via another angle .
Whilst I am aware that we all have talents and good in us that we must multiply, what was most fascinating about this story at this particular service was that God wasn’t telling me at that service just about the servant with the five and the servant with the two, he was pointing to me most importantly about the servant with ONE talent.
It is noteworthy that in considering the parable of the talents, something was highlighted by the minister and I quote ,
“For the kingdom of Heaven is like a man travelling to a far country, which called HIS OWN SERVANTS and delivered HIS goods to them.”
Matthew 25:14 NKJV
The words in Capital are my emphasis in this paragraph , most especially the latter , one simple fact , you and I are Gods servants and he has delivered HIS goods to us , and peradventure you think you have anything of your own , note the latter which says HIS goods , therefore , there is nothing that a man has that has not been given to him of the father .
But further down after having considered the fact that we have his talents and must increase till his coming , I like many others asked the question of whether God was fair and just in this seemingly unequal distribution, where one had five and the other two and the last one, then he answered me by his word and through his servant.
“And he gave to one five talents, to another two and to another one , TO EACH ACCORDING TO HIS OWN ABILITY; and immediately he went on a journey.
Matthew 25:15 NKJV
The message translation says “depending on their abilities”
This justly answers the question, therefore there is no basis for comparison and he has given me and you according to our abilities and please note that when the master came back, he did not expect more than he gave.
He who he gave five talents brought five back, he who had two brought two back and both were regarded as good servants 100% increase
In contrast to all these good servants , my concern was for the servant with the one talent , I tried to put myself in his shoes , I tried to ask if I was the one how I would feel , WHY ME? WHY ONE?
So I decided to probe further as to this servants justification, I wanted to hear him out and unlike the many times I have read this parable or heard about it , I saw it in a very different light . Suffice to say that most of the time when we read this parable the servant with one talent is painted as a very useless, stupid , good for nothing servant , but I decided to find out for myself his plea and it reads thus .
“the servant given one thousand said “Master , I know that you have high standards and hate careless ways , that you demand the best and make no allowances for error. I was afraid I might disappoint you, so I found a good hiding place and secured your money. Here it is, safe and sound down to the last cent”
Matthew 25:24-25 MSG
After reading this I felt a conviction and I don’t know if you feel same , I felt I was this servant with the one talent and like most of us have decided to just stay cool and as calm as possible , stay away as much as possible , Love God , do his will and all will be well, because we are afraid that God has high standards and hates careless ways and that he demands no allowances for error and we are most afraid that we might disappoint him, so we hide our talent .
But if you are in this group, permit me to quickly quote the verses that follow as a response to this excuse to the servant with one talent.
“The master was furious. ‘That’s a terrible way to live! Its criminal to live cautiously like that! If you knew I was after the best, why did you do less than the least ? The least you could have done would have been to invest the sum with the bankers where at least I would have gotten a little interest.
Take the thousand and give to the one who RISKED THE MOST. And get rid of this “play-it-safe” who won’t go out on a limb. Throw him into utter darkness.”
Matthew 25:26-30 MSG
The message is simple, I have made him furious, I am a criminal , and I did not risk , I m a play it safe and so the one who has risked the most has gottten more, next is utter darkness…………
But NO NO NO, unlike that servant , you still have some time , you might have found a good hiding place and secured your talent , but I want you to dig it out and use it, and remember the talent is not even yours , its HIS.
I just dug mine out, that’s why you are reading this, ITS HIS NOT MINE and he will ask for it someday.
His Word says in Rev 22:12-13, MSG
“Yes I’m on my way! I’ll be there soon! I’m bringing my payroll with me. I’ll pay all people in full for their life’s work. I’m A to Z, the first and the Final, Beginning and Conclusion.
I LOVE YOU.
Ife.

Credits; The Holy Bible (NKJV and MSG translations) that I have read and through which I got the inspirsation , The Holy Spirit who has given this inspiration.
Reference: Pst Fola[Love Assembly]for teaching on the talents when he did.
Salutations: Tolulope Moody and Temiloluwa Ola who continuously laboured in the faith over me that like that like the other servants who traded their talents I might also be a partner with the master.
And also most importantly to Mike, Mary and Faith who await the manifestation of this Son of God., keep praying , keep waiting.