The terms Suffering and Sacrifice are often misused interchangeably, the latter has a price tag and a reward, there is an end in sight. The former however is an indefinite sentence to a life of pain with no restitution.
- Solomon Ojeagbase
I will illustrate my thought with the example of our Lord Jesus Christ. His price was to die on the cross, the reward is to sit on the right hand of God. He has a name that is above every other name be it in heaven, on earth and beneath the earth and by the mention of his name all knees shall bow and all tongues confess that He is Lord - this is sacrifice.
The distinction between suffering and sacrifice is the principle of price and reward. The Israelites were suffering (using our definition of suffering above) but by the sacrifice of Moses they were liberated. Moses could have remained a prince in the courts of the Egyptians but he chose to spend 40 years in the wilderness. This shows that one man can redeem a nation through sacrifice.
Is it safe to say we are suffering in Nigeria? We often confuse suffering with sacrifice in Nigeria. When our National Anthem says “the labour our heroes past shall not be in vain”, It is talking about the price and reward principle. Let’s bring this analogy to recent chronology of events. Mahatma Ghandi, Nelson Mandela, Jerry Rawlings, French Revolution, Battle of Hastings, Mao Zedong, Lee Kwan Yew, American Independence, the Holocaust which saw scores of Israelites killed systemically in a gas chamber but brought about the creation of the Israel State.
These event were famous in history because the price and reward principle were applied. To this end we as Nigerians must wake up from this devious illusion of sacrificing for our Nation without applying the price and reward principle. The reality is that no one is absolved from the suffering in Nigeria as the late Fela Anikulapo Kuti succinctly put it “Suffering and Smiling”.
We are all in this ship together, from the President to the billionaire to the pastors, the young to the old, male, female, genius, lame, blind, the beggars on the street, even to the unborn generation. We must apply the principle of price and reward to end this suffering.
I will illustrate my thought with the example of our Lord Jesus Christ. His price was to die on the cross, the reward is to sit on the right hand of God. He has a name that is above every other name be it in heaven, on earth and beneath the earth and by the mention of his name all knees shall bow and all tongues confess that He is Lord - this is sacrifice.
The distinction between suffering and sacrifice is the principle of price and reward. The Israelites were suffering (using our definition of suffering above) but by the sacrifice of Moses they were liberated. Moses could have remained a prince in the courts of the Egyptians but he chose to spend 40 years in the wilderness. This shows that one man can redeem a nation through sacrifice.
Is it safe to say we are suffering in Nigeria? We often confuse suffering with sacrifice in Nigeria. When our National Anthem says “the labour our heroes past shall not be in vain”, It is talking about the price and reward principle. Let’s bring this analogy to recent chronology of events. Mahatma Ghandi, Nelson Mandela, Jerry Rawlings, French Revolution, Battle of Hastings, Mao Zedong, Lee Kwan Yew, American Independence, the Holocaust which saw scores of Israelites killed systemically in a gas chamber but brought about the creation of the Israel State.
These event were famous in history because the price and reward principle were applied. To this end we as Nigerians must wake up from this devious illusion of sacrificing for our Nation without applying the price and reward principle. The reality is that no one is absolved from the suffering in Nigeria as the late Fela Anikulapo Kuti succinctly put it “Suffering and Smiling”.
We are all in this ship together, from the President to the billionaire to the pastors, the young to the old, male, female, genius, lame, blind, the beggars on the street, even to the unborn generation. We must apply the principle of price and reward to end this suffering.
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