WHO ARE YOU?

“Good morning,” James called out to the cleaners, seriously doing their job.

One of them glanced up at him with a look of disdain and continued her sweeping without saying a word. Another woman cleaning the sidewalk pretended she didn’t hear, although she was the closest to him.

But one of them, in her usual fashion as every other day, replied, “Good morning omo mi, Bawo ni?” (which is Yoruba for “Good Morning my child, How are you?”)

“I’m fine, ma. How is your daughter?”. He had once seen her daughter do her part of the cleaning the day she was sick.

“She is fine; in fact, everyone is fine. May God bless you today”, she replied, raising her brush in his direction.

James saluted her, smiled, and replied, “And you too, ma,” then walked towards the elevator.

He always loved this. Even though others do not acknowledge the greetings, he would continue for the sake of this woman and the blessings. She must be the most diligent staff of the year in her department. ‘Well, if she isn’t, she is mine,’ James thought to himself. He suddenly realized that he had never even gotten her a gift and made a mental note to buy her something and bring it along the next day.

Lost in his thoughts, he bumped into a standing desk. He hissed, “Why is this desk here?”. He figured that the desk was pushed out because some repairs were going on there. But beyond that, some things just seemed a bit odd. James stopped and scanned through the hall. The sparkling Nero Marquina Italian tiles were dusty, and this wasn’t due to the repairs. Litters of biscuit wraps, take-away containers of rice, and bottles of drinks consumed the previous day were lying around the corner.

Angela, who was responsible for that, was nowhere to be found. He took a look at his watch. It was 9:25. Although she is usually late, today, she was exceptionally late. “Well, it would be impossible to escape a query this time,” he thought as he shook his head in disgust as he saw the site.

Remembering that he needed to sign in before 9.30 am, he resumed his walk to the elevator briskly. Just as he was about to press the button to close the elevator, one of the drivers stepped in – a man probably in his fifties or early sixties. He had a bunch of keys dangling from his left middle finger.

“Hello, good morning. How was your night?” James asked.

The man did not reply.

“Hey, did your wife deny you breakfast? Why are you frowning this beautiful early morning?” James asked again, teasing him.

“Well, not this morning. But I hope it doesn’t come to that,” the man replied, staring into space.

James didn’t quite understand what the man meant but didn’t probe him further.

He would later understand the man that afternoon when his MD summoned him.

---

After that visit to the MD’s office three months ago, James’ life turned around.

He was handed his retrenchment letter with the usual, “We are deeply sorry, the company is facing some economic crisis, and we are forced to lay off some of our workers. Please bear with us. Collect your three months’ advance payment from the accountant on your way out.”

Life wasn’t easy since then. Picking up the CV he thought he had dropped forever, after five years searching for a job, wasn’t what he had expected in his life.

One day he sat gloomily in his balcony, staring as he was lost in his thoughts. The next-door neighbor, who packed in with his family two months ago, saw him and walked up to him.

“Hey, good evening,” the man said.

James gave no reply.

“Good eveniinnggg,” he repeated.

Still, there was no response from James.

Then he touched him. James aroused out of his thoughts, surprised to see this man, whom he had never spoken to standing before him.

“I’ve been standing here for quite some time now, but you seemed too distant even to notice my presence. Are you okay?” concern was written all over the man’s face as he asked.

“Yes,” James answered curtly.

“Well, you don’t look like it”, he persisted.

James looked up at him frowning, “Did you come here to query me or what? Look, sir, if you don’t have anything to say, just let me be.” He spat out.

The man stared at him, shocked.

“I’m sorry, that didn’t come out well. My present state stresses me.” James said in a remorseful tone, realizing that he had been rude all along. “I was a happy sales manager of the NIPCO company until three months ago. Now I’m back to square one, carrying CVs with new graduates. The peak of it all is that I have two masters’ in mass communication and business administration. I was doing well. I brought them more sales than everybody in that company. Why was I among them that was asked to leave?”

The man picked up a seat and sat beside him, listening attentively.

James sighed, recognizing his negligence, “Pardon me. I didn’t even offer you a seat.”

“Oh, it’s no problem”, the man replied. “Sometimes things like this happen”.

James bared his mind to this total stranger, whom he had just met. Then, the man suddenly asked him, “Who are you?”

James was taken aback for a moment, “oh, I’m sorry, I didn’t even introduce myself to you before all these tete-a-tete talks. My name is James, and you?”

The man didn’t reply. Instead, he asked, “Asides from that, who are you?”

‘This man is strange. Is he having dementia or what? Didn’t I already tell him that I am a sales manager?’ James thought. Then he said, “I don’t understand what you are driving at. Can’t you see that I’m a man? Okay, I hail from Ezinifite in Anambra state. I’m an Igbo man. A proud one, for that matter.”

Laughing, the man answered, “And?”

“See, I don’t understand what you want. You haven’t answered my own question. Who are you? Were you sent or something? Were you sent here to find out everything about me? Maybe you would soon request for my bank details.” James replied sharply.

The man, still being calm, replied, “No, it hasn’t reached that level. Okay, in response to your question, my name is Emeka, and I am a beloved child of the Most High God.”

Then it dawned on James what he had missed. “You mean, you drilled me like this, just for me to tell you that I’m a Christian? Okay, I’m a born-again Christian. I even got born-again when I was in the university.”

Emeka simply stared at him, “But you still didn’t say it first.”

James felt those stares could bore a hole through his forehead as shame trickled through his face.

Emeka continued, “What you allow to define you influence your view of life and your approach to it. And that also determines what life brings to you. You’ve been born into an eternal kingdom ruled by your Father, a loving One for that matter. You are a prince and an heir. And if an heir, you can ask Him of anything, and he would give it to you.”

James was just listening intently as Emeka continued, “Or have you forgotten that you did not receive the spirit of slavery or fear, but the Spirit of His Son which yearns for His Dad, crying out ‘Abba, Father’? I like the way the Message Bible puts it. It says that we’ve not received a timid, grave-ending life from God, but an adventurously expectant life that greets God in a child-like manner, “what’s next? Papa.” He is your dad, and all He has belongs to you, in this world and the next.”

Emeka’s words sounded so captivating; James felt so lost in them. He asked, “What is your point?”

“I want to remind you that you are from a heavenly kingdom whose king is your Father. And the son of a king is who?”

“A prince,” James answered.

“Exactly! So, in other words, you are a prince. What you should have done was to ask Him where next He wanted you to be, or better still, what He wanted you to do next.” When you were a kid,” he continued, “did you receive a nicely wrapped log of wood for a Christmas present when you asked your dad for a toy?”

“Of course not. He bought me two toys that year”. James answered, remembering his childhood with so much fondness.

“You see, if your dad, a man, could do that, how much more your Father who is a king? Why would you be outside struggling for little things your Father rightfully owns? Even when he could give you more,” Emeka said, desperately hoping that James would understand the riches he is entitled to in God.

By this time, it had dawned on James how far he had strayed from God. He couldn’t even remember the last time went to church not to talk of praying.

Emeka continued, “See, don’t forget what Jesus said… If we, being evil, know how to give good gifts to our children, how much more will our Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask Him! James, look at me; even though He can give us all things, that shouldn’t also be our reason for turning to Him. Everything you see in this world will pass away, but you see ‘this sonship’ we have, it won’t. Don’t allow what you see in this world to define you or change your focus.”

“I really need to talk to God”, James interrupted him, with tears dropping from his eyes. “I’ve been away from Him for so long. I can’t even remember when I last prayed or read my bible. I didn’t even know I’ve strayed this far.”

They prayed together and discussed some other issues, and by the time they were done, it was almost dark.

“I’d like to have you over for dinner one of these days. It would be nice if you met my lovely wife and kids”, Emeka said.

“Oh, that’s very kind of you; I’d be honored,” James replied.

“I need to go now. I have to help my kids with their assignments. They must have been waiting for me”, Emeka said, rising from his seat.

“How many of them?” James asked.

“Oh, I have an energetic 6-year old boy and two cute girls. One would turn four this year while the other is 2”, Emeka said smiling.

“You must have lots of questions to answer when you get home because you are very late,” James said.

“I do”, Emeka chuckled. “Let’s make dinner next tomorrow at 7 pm, cos I’ll have to inform my wife of your coming”, he continued on his way out of the balcony.

“Okay. Bye”, James said, rising as well.

Emeka stopped in his tracks, “Lest I forget, this is my complimentary card,” handing him a small white card.

James took a glance at the card, and a slight frown appeared on his face. The name was familiar. He had been to that company before and was told there was no vacancy.

“You mean you are the CEO of the great Amaxard?”, James asked amazed.

“Yes, I am”, Emeka smiled, “And we just transferred our former sales manager to the new branch in the Netherlands, and we would need a replacement”. At this point, James was already jumping up and down.

But then, he suddenly stopped. “But how in this world are you living in this area, even in this estate?”, James asked. “You are supposed to live in places like Lekki or Victoria Islands. Big men like you aren’t found around here.” He said, looking out at the 4-bedroom flat that was a few feet away from his house.

“That’s a story for another day. We are no longer our own. We live where God wants us to live. Drop your CV with the receptionist tomorrow morning, tell her I sent you”, Emeka said, rushing off.

“See you later,” James screamed after him, overjoyed. “Oh God, how I thank You for sending this man to me. Oh God, how I love You….” James prayed as he entered his house.

I AM YOUR FATHER, AND I KNOW YOUR NEEDS, EVEN BEFORE YOU ASK THEM. AND I WILL NEVER LEAVE YOU NOR FORSAKE YOU.

---

Hey, you… Yes, you!

If someone walks up to you and asks, “Who are you?”. What is the first thing that would come to your mind? Would you answer as James did? Or maybe you would add that you are a student, or a videographer or photographer, or singer, model or an actor/actress… the list goes on.

But you should never forget that you are not of this world but from a heavenly kingdom, and you have a Father who loves you. You are just a passerby in this world, but what you do here will determine where you would spend your eternity.

Well, if you haven’t been born into this family, this is an opportunity for you. Say this prayer with me:
“Father, I thank You that Your eyes have always been on me. Thank You for Your Son, whom You sent to redeem me. Thank you, Jesus, for dying on that cross for me. I accept You into my life. I implore You to take Your rightful place in my life as my Lord and King. I decree that I am dead, and it is You, Christ, that now lives in me. Teach me how to walk with You in this present world. In Jesus’ name, Amen.”

So, a massive Congratulation to you. I can hear the angels rejoicing on your behalf.

“For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear, but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father. The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit that we are the children of God:And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may also be glorified together.”

Rom 8:15-17