THE DECEPTION OF OPULENCE
ABOUT THE BLOGGER
Rev. Dr. James Mbotela Syomuti, ThD, DD, PhD, is a Kenyan citizen and he lives in Kitui County, near Kitui Town. He is married to Anna and they have been blessed with six children, (four sons and two daughters.) All of their children are now adults and some of them are married. He is a pastor, a teacher, an artist, a writer of fiction and nonfiction, a poet, a humorist and he is also a prolific personal blogger (https://syomuti.blogspot.com). He has a deep passion for writing content. So far, he has written and published some ebooks with Smashwords Publishing Platform in USA. His published titles are; (1) The Maid (2) The Moving Mouth (3) The Virgin (4) The Drunkard. (5) The Soliloquist (One), (6) The Soliloquist (Two). (7) The Stranger & Other Poems. You can access the above books by visiting his site on the internet, by clicking https://syomuti.com He has taught students at different Secondary Schools in his home county for many years down the line. He is an approved Bible Skills Institute (BSI) trainer, a theological program of Every Home for Christ International, (Headquarters-The Jericho Center, Colorado Springs, COUSA). He teaches church adults theological courses. On top of that, he teaches adults (physically), English Language. He is a born again Christian, a pastor and the Founder/Bishop of Siloam Worship Center International Ministries. You can access the church details online, by just writing and clicking the above underlined name, on the internet. He is an itinerant preacher, and a teacher of the Word of God. He has several certificates and
diplomas in theology, from national and international Bible Schools.
He has a certificate in Spiritual Life Development from Northwestern Christian University, in USA. Above all, he has honorary doctorate degrees of Doctor of Humanity (DH) and Doctor of Theology (ThD) from Prixton Church & University, in USA. He also has a Bachelor of Arts (BA) in Ministry Science, and honorary doctorate degrees of; Doctor of Achievement in Ministry Science(DA), Master of Arts (MA) in Ministry Science, Doctor of Divinity (DD) in Ministry Science and Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) in Ministry Science, from Abide University.
THE DECEPTION OF OPULENCE
Some things astound me in this life. When I think about them and
even try to analyze or interpret them, I get stuck and confused.
There is a lot of folly and futile efforts in this meaningless life. I see people struggling and working very hard to make their ends meet.
No one wants to be regarded as a failure in life, because people like
only associating and identifying themselves with achievers but not
failures. In our society, it is an abomination to be a failure or
destitute. By the way, I have never heard of any man or woman who
has decided or chosen to be poor!
Nevertheless, we still see and live with poor people around us. In
most cases, the poor and the disadvantaged people are looked upon as outcasts. Our society treats the poor people unfairly and with a lot of contempt. And so the poor seem to have no place in decision making and tangible contribution to their immediate society. No one acknowledges or recognizes them simply because they apparently have nothing to offer. I have learnt one difficult lesson that, the rich class of this society wants to remain on top of the shoulders of the poor men. The poor men and women are only ladders which the rich use in order to climb up to the top of their achievements.
THE SILENT CLASS RIFT
There is this silent class rift which exists between the rich and the poor. The rich don’t like promoting the poor so that they can also measure to their standard. The rich hate the poor and the poor hate the rich, and life continues. As a matter of fact, the impoverished people continue to wallow and writhe in despondency and nobody cares. In the corridors of poverty, there is no competition but in the corridors of
the riches of this world, people compete silently. Many of our
nations in this world are being devastated by materialism and
secularism.The rich compete among themselves to see who emerges as their star. Many of them don’t sleep at night. They spend the watches of the night awake, trying to think how they can make more money, how they can make shrewdly acquired wealth and how they can outshine one another. Research and careful scrutiny reveal that many of the affluent people experience high blood pressure, diabetes, stress, insomnia or confusion. To some other people, wealth has become their god and therefore they spend most of their time worshiping their opulence. Some men have become so much obsessed in their concerted clamor for acquiring wealth at the expense of neglecting their wives and children. To them, wealth becomes more meaningful and valuable than their families. The quest for amassing more and more haunts them persistently, day and night. Unfortunately, there never comes a time when one can stand up and declare that he has gathered enough wealth and now he can rest. Human beings are surely insatiable.
FUTILE CRAVINGS
All the efforts that man exerts to fulfill his cravings are futile. I have also learnt some bitter lessons that, many people don’t want to listen to the songs you have composed, but they want you to
listen to the songs they have composed. Some other people don’t want to see you ahead of them, but they want to see you behind them. Others don’t want to see you on top of them, but they want to see you under them. Still, some do not want you to progress, but they want you to retrogress. In other incidents, there are some of
your friends who do not want to hear your voice. They get irritated.
Instead, they want your voice to be silenced so that only their voices
can be heard and prevail in dominating the audience. There are people who want you to be their slave but not their master. There are others who want you to carry them on your back but they don’t want to carry you on their backs.
QUITE UNFORTUNATE
This is quite absurd and unfortunate. Just come to think of it, the kind of people who are around us. When they see you struggling with a particular problem which they can easily solve, they stand on the sidelines and become spectators. People do not want to be outshone, they want to outshine. It is mere deception, and unfortunate for anyone to get on well as far as the wealth of this world is concerned, without any regard or concern for the needy. I have seen great and rich men saying goodbye to this wretched world. I have seen them leaving real estates, property and a lot of money in their bank accounts. Okay, our honorable and most respected man in our city, you have departed. Yes, you have gone
forever. You will never come back again. Rest In Peace. Your wife and your children have been left to feast on what you worked so hard for, in this short life. It is unfortunate that even though you had acquired a lot of wealth, they will not bury you with anything, except your expensive coffin and your black suit. Adios amigo and until next time, rest! Don’t mind or worry about what you have left behind you. You are not supposed to carry or take anything from this side to the other side. Don’t worry about how they will share your hard earned or your shrewdly acquired wealth. They will sort themselves out in their own style, if you didn’t take the initiative of doing it when you were alive. Come and see, the man who was once given good opportunities by God to live and acquire wealth, but he became so mean that nobody benefited from him in any way. He behaved like the rich fool in the bible that Jesus Christ spoke about, in one of his parables.
THE RICH FOOL
The rich fool in the parable of Jesus Christ got a bumper harvest from his farm. The man decided to enlarge his grain granaries to store his food which would take many years before it got finished. The rich fool said in his heart that he would relax, eat, drink and make merry. However, the rich fool had no regard for God. Presumably, he also didn’t have any regard for his contemporaries in terms of
sharing his food with them. God spoke to that selfish, foolish and inconsiderate man and told him that he would die that very night. Riches without regard for God and mankind are meaningless. So now, you rich man, there you are. You have now crossed over from this world to the other side. You were so treacherous during your life down here on earth. But you have now gone completely. You will never come back. You never impressed anybody, not even
the members of your family. They suffered a great deal as you
continued to withhold your enormous wealth. You were not a
blessing to anyone. Your wickedness had reached an alarming degree before you bid this world goodbye. When the wicked are on thrones and thriving, the people groan. But when they perish, the people rejoice.
YOUR ACHIEVEMENTS
You were once granted an opportunity to attend one of the most important educational institutions to acquire knowledge and skill. However, in the course of time you underrated your future life and trifled in your studies. You became short sited and indulged yourself in short-lived pleasures. Finally, you got wounded and became a casualty of your own recklessness. Although you attempted to get rid of the creature which was developing in your womb, you did not succeed. And so you were forced by conditions to leave the institution prematurely. You went home and finally you gave birth. You have been nursing the wounds of your deeds. Even though the scars of your actions are indelible, the wounds have at least healed. Although you were brainy and considerably prolific in your academic endeavors, you tried to serve two masters simultaneously but it became impossible. You are quite desperate and full of regrets. Your age mates who persevered and cultivated self discipline are in prominent positions these days. You scorned the advice of your teachers and instructors. You said that they were backward and they lacked insight. Your deep seated pride towards your seniors became your undoing. You are now like a spectacular object of disgrace which makes many people who see you snarl like dogs. Incidentally, all your future dreams and plans have been utterly thwarted.
YOUR DECEIVERS
Your deceivers are nowhere to be found. They have all taken cover and are busy pursuing their own goals and activities. Word has it that you were among the most talented and copious writers during your college days. Your lecturers and professors admired your literary works. They respected you and cherished your creativity. Unfortunately, it has been said that you became a habitual boozer. People who were familiar with you said that you frequented many pubs in the city. You entertained your associates by ensuring that you bought beer for them as they drank to their fill. You became a spendthrift and a real star of your time. Now you can sit down and do some stock taking of your past deeds.
You can contact me through;
Email:syomuti@gmail.com or jambsy@yahoo.com
Mobile:+254724649652 or +254718776259
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