Wednesday 24th July,
2019. Bible Study: Exodus 16:1-5.9-15, Psalm 78 and Matthew 13:1-9
_“Other
seeds fell on good soil and brought forth grain, some a hundredfold, some
sixty, some thirty. He who has ears, let him hear.” *(Matthew 13:8-9)*_
Sometime
ago, something rather disheartening happened in my locality. It was the day
fixed for the Primary School leaving certificate examinations. The Governor
decided to pay surprise visits to some of these centres. Lo and behold, the
Governor caught some Teachers right inside the examination hall copying answers
for the children. In fact, in another centre, he saw parents struggling to
bribe their way into the hall to help their children copy. Some parents were
seen climbing the school fence.
This
incidence really calls to question the nature of parenting in our society
today. How are we bringing up our children? Do we realize that the future of
our country depends on the sound moral and spiritual foundation we lay in our
kids? One eminent professor said recently that Nigeria is producing a
generation of illiterates – educated illiterates; graduates who are world-apart
from what their degrees and certificates claim.
If as
parents we now teach and encourage our children to commit malpractice in
examinations, how do we make them understand that kidnapping, terrorism,
prostitution, bribery, armed robbery, telling of lies, certificate forgery and so
on are evil?
A child
who is well brought up is the glory of his parents. As our Gospel passage today
explains, the nature of the soil determines the nature of the harvest. Let us
bear in mind that our role as parents is to cultivate and constantly manure
good soils in the heart of our children so that God can work mightily through
them.
Another serious
problem among today’s children is the development of an entitlement mentality.
This is where many parents of today’s generation got it wrong, they bring up their
children to believe that they can always get what they want even without
working for it. Children today do not understand that it is okay to suffer for
a while, that is okay to delay gratification, that money takes time to come by,
that life is a journey.
Like the
children of Israel on their way to the Promised Land, children today want it
all NOW; NOW; NOW. And when they don’t get it, they complain, they throw up
tantrums, they get depressed and even commit suicide. There has never been a
time when life wasn’t tough for the youths. In fact, I think it was tougher
those days. I listen to my father and many of his generation tell me how they suffered
just to pay their own school fees through school given that their own fathers
were not even educated. They survived.
The
murmurings of the children of Israel showed the depths of their lack of appreciation
to God, a failure to look beyond their immediate circumstances (impatience) and
a deep-seated sense of entitlement. These are sadly the same traits we see in
the children of my generation; experts in complaining and murmuring; professionals
in ranting all day on social media, insulting government officials without offering
meaningful solutions or creative ideas.
Let us teach
our children to develop rich soils by cultivating in them the virtues of trusting
in God, the discipline of hard work, the willingness to follow the more
difficult route and the beauty of patience.
Let us
pray: Lord Jesus, help us to realize that by changing the soil (the foundation),
we can change our fruits. Amen.
Be Happy.
Live Positive. Have Faith. It is well with you. God bless you. (Wednesday
of the 16th week in Ordinary Time. Bible Study: Exodus 16:1-5.9-15, Psalm 78
and Matthew 13:1-9).
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