Explaining Precepts and Lines to myself if I was 10 years Old
Biology…God, I hated that subject. Not because it was complex or anything, but because of the teacher who taught me. She made it sound so boring.
Okay, let’s focus. Why did I mention biology? Well because it was the one subject we always had to know the theory which would help us do the practicals. There was the theory that we would have to write long stories about the anatomy of a lizard. But in the practicals, we had to open up the lizard and do a whole lot of disgusting stuff. That’s how you gain true mastery of the subject.
Now, going by the teachings of Rev. Kayode Oyegoke, he likened precepts to the theory aspect of God while lines are the practicality. So you may have the precepts, and you can write and explain the most intricate aspect of God, but may never experience the practicality which is the lines.
Let me try to create an analogy. Will you allow me?
So you’re in a meeting, and the pastor is preaching on the long-suffering nature of our Lord Jesus while He was on earth. He had to put up with Judas Iscariot, and not put up like He was a burden, but with so much love and kindness, hoping he would change. Or when He was about to die on the cross, he still replied kindly to the thief beside Him. Or how He suffers long with the church, His bride, nurturing and nourishing her with all her infirmities.
Now, your emotions are so high up. Your eyes may even become teary if you’re that emotional. You truly want to be like this man, Jesus.
This creates a mental image in your head, sorry, heart. If you were asked to describe the message in one statement, you would probably say ‘Jesus can suffer long.’ That is a piece of knowledge you have about Him. And that’s it. A theory aspect of Jesus. If you were called to preach a message on long-suffering, then you would have enough reference points to describe His nature.
Now let’s go further. At that moment when that image was being painted to you about Him, something in you woke up, a desire. Simply put, you wanted to be like this man. And so deeply burdened, you began to pray to have this nature of long-suffering. Why can you even pray? Because you have been given a substance, a piece of information, a knowledge.
And so you pray, God approves, Angels are ecstatic. Finally, something worthwhile to do.
On Monday at work, you’re with your colleague with whom you have regular spats, nothing serious, just a few times you’ve had to give her a word or two. On this particular day, she throws a snide remark at you, and your usual self is about to respond, but something rises within you that tells you to shut up. ‘This is surprising’, you tell yourself.
It continues for days, weeks…by this time, you have even managed to entreat her, beg like the weak one. This isn’t you at all. In the danfo, when you asked the conductor for your change, he threw the money at you and even insulted you. You found yourself apologizing. Or that sister in church who always finds a fault when you wash the toilet. Or that food that is never perfect for your mum. Or that neighbour whose generator noise disturbs you.
Something has been worked in you over time, from the moment you refused to reply, a line was added to you, or a life was added to you. All those other times when you could have spoken your mind politely or changed the narrative, little did you know that the nature of
LONG-SUFFERING was being spelled out in your heart. And not just suffering, because you can keep quiet and still reply in your heart. But LONG-SUFFERING, keeping quiet, and having nothing to say back because you’ve been broken. In every one of those scenarios, your mind flashes back to Jesus on the cross, Jesus when He knew Judas was stealing, and Jesus when He sees the church going against His purpose.
Now that is the practical, that is lines. You moved from just knowing that Jesus suffers long to being led by the Holy Spirit to also suffer long.
And if you keep at it long enough, it becomes a nature you own. An image was projected to you, and the Holy Spirit replicated it in you.
I feel like this didn’t gel, but it’s probably how I would explain it to 10-year-old me who’s struggling to understand precepts and lines.
Unrelated but…
Don’t listen to mirror by Justin Timberlake. That’s not the mirror you look into to find the perfect law of liberty, lol.
Listen to ‘I become’ by Cleft Music.
Adios!
P.S: I wrote this in 30–40 minutes so it may feel rushed when you are reading it. Sorryy. It’s 5:45 pm, and I am still at work so had to rush it.
Another P.S: I had this inspiration yesterday night and had to quickly write today. If not, I would never write it. And I am trying to become better at writing.
