Author: Unknown
“John, remember, you are the first doctor in this family, the first in our little eastern village. Make me proud…”
His mother’s last words faded in his ears as he jerked up from sleep to shut his screaming 4 a.m. alarm.
John Pablo was a year-three student studying Medicine and Surgery, and a disciplined young man who achieved whatever he set his mind to do. The previous night, he had attended a law faculty party, and now he had to make up for the lost time by reading at 4 a.m. instead of the usual 6 a.m. on a Saturday morning.
He washed his face, took a gulp of the energy drink on his table, and sat by it, ready to continue the race for the best graduating student. Just as he opened his book, an alarm rang. But it wasn’t his. Fifteen seconds later, his roommate—the ‘spiricoco’ brother Ayo—woke up.
“Good morning, John. You returned last night?” Ayo said a bit incoherently, yawning and stretching.
“As you can see,” he responded reluctantly.
“Why are you awake by this time? I thought 6 a.m. was your Saturday wake time? Or… could it be that you are finally seeking God?” Ayo smiled excitedly.
“Ayo, I am not a ‘Pastor’ like you. I didn’t get admission to study Theology. School is for acquiring knowledge, establishing connections, and getting a well-deserved certificate, not spirituality.” He replied in a prideful tone.
“John, are you sure you are not an idol worshipper, worshipping at the shrine of academics?” Ayo said thoughtfully.
“Ayo,” John, still seated, turned to face him. “Are you sure you are not a fanatic with a lost sense of purpose? Did your parents pay medical school fees for you to do evangelism or for you to become a doctor and lift them out of poverty forever? You claim to be better and more righteous, but you are so disorganized.
“You go to church by 8 a.m. and return by 3 p.m. In the name of counselling, you have brought many strange people from around this hostel into our room. They knock loudly even when you are not around, and disturb my siesta. You are not an idol worshipper, but I wish you were. It would have been better—at least I would know how to handle you. You are so annoying that I doubt your purported Christianity.”
“Wow, that was a lot. I really touched something. Well, since we are pouring out our minds, how about I tell you what the Holy Spirit said to tell you?” Ayo responded peacefully.
“Okay, ride on. Condemn me. I am all ears,” John said, ready for a fight.
“For a 19-year-old, you are very disciplined—more disciplined than I am—and I admire you for that. When you go to parties, you have a return time set in your mind, and you never exceed it. You drink and uphold your personal limit so you do not get drunk. Girls are almost not a temptation to you because you don’t want anything to distract you from the goal. Normally, you do not stay out late, so you do not even stand the risk of being attacked by robbers.”
“You are physically good-looking and well-built, so that’s not a bother. Your intelligence is not in question because your grades and active participation in class speak for you. But here’s the problem… You are so complete that you do not need God!“
“That’s not even possible. Everyone needs God. And I pay my tithes and offerings…” He responded in defense.
“I agree. But walk me through, and stop me when I’m wrong. You read your Bible, on average, three times a week—and on days when we have tests and exams. But you only read verses like ‘Commit your plans to the Lord and He will order your steps…’ and other affirmative-type scriptures. You don’t even read up to a chapter per time because you have to hurry back to your books. Am I wrong?”
He wasn’t, so John didn’t respond.
“I hear you make calls and check up on your relatives and their children, not necessarily because you care about them. You want to keep tabs on them so you’re sure that no one is coming close to your level of success. And in you rests this perverse delight that you are the only medical student from your village.” Ayo was on a roll.
“Whenever it seems someone’s grade or CGPA is getting close to yours, you read twice as hard and do not relent till you’re distinctively the best. And to crown it all, you do not mind cheating in the exam hall or paying lecturers to release their questions to you ahead of time.”
At this point, conviction began to rest heavy on John. The Holy Spirit was present, and the truth was sharper than a double-edged sword.
“John, Jesus is not at the center of your life. Your degree is. That is the reason you have kept yourself chaste and seemingly unstained by the world. But the pride of life is eating you up slowly from within. Imagine something happens and you drop out of medical school… Let me guess your only option is suicide, right?“
At this point, he couldn’t bear it anymore, this was a total exposure of his heart. He began to cry and Ayo went to his bedside to comfort him.
“I’m tired. I’m so tired, Ayo. I have been labouring under my mother’s last words. I promised her. I can’t fail,” He said amidst tears and nasal drippings.
“John, you have to give it to the Lord. You have to stop living for your late mother and start living for Him. Your quest for a first class has taken His place in your heart. It has become an idol and a god to you. You need to kick it off the throne and restore the Lord to His rightful place. Ask the Lord to forgive you for idolatry, renounce the idol of academics, and ask Him to free you from your mother’s last words. Proclaim Him as Lord over your life, and lay it all down.” Ayo encouraged him.
Tears, prayers, tongues, deliverances, and songs of thanksgiving flowed like a river till 6 a.m., and a new John was reborn. He had woken up to worship his god but encountered God.
Dear reader, while you thank God for John, reflect—who is at the center of your life?
Sizzling Sunday: 8th June 2025
Sizzling Sunday 145
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