Maurice Welabi Nguemako
Christian Wandji, my grandson, would live to remember that day; it would be engraved in his memory forever, I believe. It was a day of joy. That day was the 07th of June, 2022. I quite remember that day very well because, my wife and myself were on vacation from Cameroon, to celebrate with Christian. He was amongst the hundreds of students who graduated from the Nicholas Senn High School, Chicago, USA, on that day. Together with Christian’s parents and some family members, we attended the graduation ceremony at the 100 years old gigantic and impressive Chicago Symphony Orchestra hall in down town Chicago, USA. The entire event was simply mind blowing, impressive, attractive and exquisite. The organization was impeccable, the renditions by the Senn Advanced Band and Orchestra were professionally done pulling applauses from the audience, whilst the graduating students all dressed in their beautiful graduation robes, were very hilarious.
A grandiose graduation ceremony
The ceremony kicked off with several items, notably: the ceremonial opening, the presentation of the colours, singing of the US national anthem, address by the keynote speaker, address of the Principal, address of Salutatorian, address of Valedictorian. The grand moment came for the handing over of certificates. I watched in awe as the names of the graduating students were called out one by one, and they marched unto the platform in turns, to receive their individual certificates from the hands of the Principal, Janelle Hatch-Miller.
I could perceive the Principal, Janelle Hatch-Miller congratulating each graduating student, as she handed over their certificate with a handshake, a smile and even with a pat on the back. It was as if she was saying to each student, “Congratulations, well done, you are great…” It was indeed a great day for the graduating students, as they were about stepping into another phase of their lives. They had every reason to celebrate, having gone through a lot of hardship during the various classes over the years.
The above scenario is undoubtedly replicated regularly in our daily lives worldwide, when people witness either job appointments, promotions, success in examinations or the winning of an election. These are all moments of joy and celebration of triumph over stress, temptations and other negative forces.
As I reflected over the graduation ceremony, my mind was drawn to what transpired between Jesus Christ and His disciples as narrated in the gospel of Luke 10:1-24. In this Bible passage, we are told amongst other things that, Jesus appointed seventy-two disciples, and sent them two by two to go before Him into every city and place where He Himself was to go. Jesus gave these seventy-two a specific assignment saying, amongst other things,
“Go your way; behold, I send you out as lambs among wolves. Carry neither money bag, knapsack, nor sandals; and greet no one along the road…And heal the sick there, and say to them, ‘The Kingdom of God has come near you.’ ”
The joy of a job well done.
The Bible further tells us (v.17) that, the seventy-two returned from their mission with joy, saying to Jesus, “Lord, even the demons are subject to us in your name.” What good report of a successful mission trip by the seventy-two disciples ! The Bible says that they returned with joy! Indeed, there was every reason humanly speaking for them to be full of great joy at the result of their expedition. We can imagine that by the grace of God, they had fought and overcome the demon of fear and intimidation, the demon of incomprehension and rejection, the demon of hunger and thirst, the demon of stress, the demon of sickness in the people, the demon of unbelief, and what have you? In brief, they reaped a huge harvest from the mission field in the name of Jesus Christ.
In that Bible passage, Jesus Christ Himself was overwhelmed with joy and exclaimed that, He saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven! He went on to give the disciples the authority to trample on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy..(v. 18, 19). What Jesus said next is of great significance and interest to us here. He said, “Nevertheless do not rejoice in this, that the Spirits are subject to you, but rather rejoice because your names are written in heaven.” (v.20).
Achievements or accomplishments in life are indeed worth celebrating. It is normal to organize ceremonies to celebrate these achievements or accomplishments when they come; however, what matters is the manner and magnitude of such celebrations. These may differ from one culture to another. In some cultures, huge feasts are organized at very high costs to celebrate for instance, success at an examination, a job appointment, the winning of a contest or a contract, the buying of a house or a car, a marriage, the birth of a child, you name it. Many people even incur very huge debts just to engage in these celebrations.
The true joy to celebrate
It is good for us to go ahead and celebrate our life achievements or accomplishments, just like the disciples did theirs in Luke 10 recounted hereinabove. Jesus was extremely happy about all these, but He however went ahead and cautioned the disciples saying, “Nevertheless do not rejoice in this, that the Spirits are subject to you, but rather rejoice because your names are written in heaven.”(Luke 10:20). By this statement, Jesus Christ was driving home the point, which holds very strongly till date in our lives today that, the greatest achievement or accomplishment for every man or woman, boy or girl, is to have your name written in heaven ! Your educational degrees, top jobs, huge businesses, massive mansions, fat bank accounts, acknowledgments or decorations, marriages, children etc, have their places in your life, but they are of secondary importance !
In the Book of Revelation Chapter 20, Apostle John gives us a picture of what will happen to those whose names will not be found written in heaven, as revealed to him by God:
“Then I saw a great white throne and Him who sat on it…And I saw the dead, small and great, standing before God, and books were opened. And another book was opened, which is the Book of Life. And the dead were judged according to their works, by the things which were written in the books…And anyone not found written in the Book of Life was cast into the lake of fire.” (Revelation 20:11, 12,15). N.B.: This would not be a good experience at all; the lake of fire will be a place of perpetual torment: Matt. 13:41-42, 50;Luke 16:23-24.
On the contrary, there would be everlasting joy for those whose names will be found written in heaven, in the Book of Life: they shall be richly rewarded, they shall be blessed, and shall have the right to the tree of life, and shall enter through the gates into the holy city of heaven, where God will dwell with them, and they shall be His people. God Himself will be with them and be their God. God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying (Rev. 21, 22). Indescribable joy and fulfilment in heaven awaits those whose names will be written in heaven.
My friend, let me ask you this question: is your name written in heaven, in the Book of Life? If not, hurry up before it is too late. Call on Jesus Christ now to be your Lord and Saviour. Tell Him you love Him, and desire to follow in His footsteps of obedience, love, humility, honesty, servanthood and faithfulness to God all the way.
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*By Maurice WELABI NGUEMAKO.
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