“And this is the promise
that He has promised us—eternal life”. 1
John 2:25
Now you
remember my father’s friend who passed away in Episode 2 of Season 2? I had
known him all my life. His name is Cyprian Emenyonu, we called him uncle CY.
His death hit us hard. Uncle CY was a friend indeed to my father. I remember
the day my mother died, that night, my father, uncle CY and I all slept in the
same room. Such was the bond.
On the
day Uncle CY passed away, I was at the prayer meeting of the Legal Department
of my church somewhere around Ojodu in Lagos State when my sister called me…”Uncle
CY is dead, I am taking dad and mum to Gbagada General Hospital”
I left Ojodu
around 7.30pm and I drove straight to Gbagada General Hospital. I called
Justina to inform her of the situation and to let her know that I would be home
late. When I got to the hospital, I met with Uncle CY’s wife and son…it was
heartbreaking.
Now let
me say something about Uncle CY’s son.
Chisom
Emeyonu should be no older than 25 years old by my calculations (uncle CY got
married in 1990) yet he displayed an unusual calm and maturity. He was
everywhere that night and he held his own…he didn’t break down.
I joined
a team of men to lift uncle CY’s lifeless body from the stretcher, into a body
bag. My dad had broken down in tears and seeing my father cry brought so many
painful memories of the ones we lost…my heart broke.
When my
father told me to put up a tribute on behalf of my siblings for Uncle CY, there
was no better way to do so than to use it as an avenue to evangelise. Christian
living is something I take seriously and the salvation of souls is a task I engage
in daily…if Christ expects me to preach the good news, then any avenue I get
would be another opportunity to do so. Uncle CY was born-again. He attended the
Deeper Life Bible Church and everything about him radiated holiness and
Christian living. What better way to celebrate such a man than to use his
demise as an opportunity to do that which he spent his entire life doing?
While my
uncle’s death has nothing to do with children nor is it directly related to
those in God’s waiting room, it has everything to do with God and the gospel of
our lord Jesus Christ. It is based on this that it has found its way into this
blog. The timely message in the tribute is also for someone reading this post
today, Uncle CY is gone and yet we believe in our hearts that he has gone to a
better place. Where would you go when death comes? Would you be translated to
eternal life with Christ or would your soul be damned for eternity in hell? This
is a choice only you can make.
For we
cannot choose when or how we are born, we cannot even choose the day we shall
depart this earth, however, we can choose how to spend eternity and I believe
this in the last analysis should make the difference.
“And if
it seems evil to you to serve the Lord, choose for yourselves this day
whom you will serve, whether the gods which your fathers served that were on
the other side of the River, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you
dwell. But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.” Joshua
24:15
Below is
the tribute to my uncle…
I CHOOSE LIFE
“But I tell you truly, there are some
standing here who shall not taste death till they see the kingdom of God” –Luke
9:27
Is this
humanly possible? That a man born of flesh and blood shall live on this earth
from the time of Christ till the resurrection? Probably not. What then did
Jesus Christ mean when he spoke these words? The interpretation of scripture
lies in scripture so we shall look closely at another bible verse to understand
what kind of death Christ referred to.
“Therefore we were buried with him through
baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory
of the father, even so we also should walk in the newness of life….for he who
has died has been freed from sin. Now if we died with Christ, we believe we
shall also live with him, knowing that Christ having been raised from the dead,
dies no more. Death no longer has dominion over him. For the death that he
died, he died to sin once and for all, but the life that he lives, he lives to
God”-Romans 6 4-10.
The death
Christ referred to was sin and the corruption of the spirit. For as many who
yield to sin, they are subject to the death and corruption that follows sin.
But just as Christ assured, there are some who shall rise above sin (death) and
sin shall not have dominion over them.
The
Christian life is interesting and at the same time confusing to those who do
not catch the vision. Why do we celebrate at a time such as this?
I have
known uncle CY since I was a little child and one thing is constant about his
lifestyle: holiness. Some may even say he brought a new dimension to the
concept of holiness and in his exemplary lifestyle, he showed us how everything
and anything is secondary to the primary objective of righteous living and
eternal life. It is a hard line to tow especially in this age of materialism
when most people are caught up in the acquisition frenzy. Being able to remain
simple, focused and dead to worldly things is testimony to the vision my Uncle
CY ran with. He saw the bigger picture and in this simplicity of living and
pursuit of righteousness, he was indeed wealthier than most.
Would
this be a time to recount the times spent together? The role he played in my
family when our mother went to be with the lord? The times spent in prayers and
sweet communion? The support and courage my father was able to draw from his
company in those dark days? No. this is not the time. That’s a story I shall
save for my children even as I charge them to continue in the way of holiness
and never get caught up in the world so much that they lose the final
destination of heaven. This is rather the time to celebrate and use the
exemplary life my uncle CY lived to teach others about holiness and Jesus
Christ. What a man.
As many
as remain in the valley of indecision, let the life of this man teach us, what
would you be remembered for when you are no more? How many lives have you
touched? How many people have you led to Christ? Christian living is one that
we must master and live daily until it becomes the air we breathe and it is imbibed
in all we do. That when we open our mouths, we speak Christ, when we open our
eyes, we see Christ, when we open our ears, we hear Christ and in every touch,
we feel Christ. That we may be worthy ambassadors of the kingdom chosen by God
to stand in his place even for a moment and cause a change in our environment.
If your environment doesn't recognize the Christ in you, then it is indeed time
to check yourself and re-align your ways.
Christian
living is a lifestyle we must keep in constant movement and activity, a little
sleep and dragging of feet and we fall to sin. The Bible explains this
succinctly in Genesis…
“….and if you do not do well, sin lies at the
door. And it desires you, but you should rule over it”
As many
as read this tribute and are not sure where they would spend eternity, this is
the day of salvation and God is calling out to you, he desires to bring you
into his rest and give you power over death and the grave. Just as the time of
his second coming is not known to man, so also, the day you shall depart this
sinful world. The only currency acceptable at heaven’s gate is holiness and
righteous living. Every other currency, or possession or achievement would
perish in the grave.
This is
how Uncle CY would have wanted it to be. No regrets, peace, eternal life.
Living behind in faith to continue from where he stopped, a wife who also knows
the God for herself and children who are ready tools for kingdom activity. It
is a wonderful destiny, it is a sweet end to life on this sinful planet.
Despite
all these, mortality still creeps in once every now and then and we mourn the
departing of one whom we would have loved to run this Christian race alongside
a little longer. What then is our consolation? What then shall we hold on to in
time of grief and a heavy heart?
“The righteous perishes and no one takes it
to heart; merciful men are taken away while no one considers that the righteous
is taken away from evil. He shall enter into peace; they shall rest in their
beds, each one walking in his uprightness” – Isaiah 57 1-2
This is
the promise and assurance of rest, of escape from evil and of hope. It is well.
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