PROVERB OF THE DAY AND ITS MEANING | AFRICAN PROVERB

Man is always tempted to procrastinate, and we all
know that procrastination is adverse to growth and success. So many times, I have been tempted to suspend a particular book, whose title just came struck my mind, and write it sometime in future. But, thank God for a motivational platform like African Proverbs and some inspirational books that I have read. They all helped to galvanize me into being serious. One of the dangers of procrastination is that the opportunity may not come again( like, in my own case, I may forget the title of the book and how to compile the plots into a gritty, readable whole). Chances of this opportunity resurfacing like déjà vu is very few and far between. Only a few, like the grace of God, live to tell the lost story again. It is based on this last sentence that my next paragraph kicks off.

The proverb says, "The best time to plant a tree is twenty years ago. The second best time is now." These are two related sentences, the first being the 'original' moment, and the second being the 'grace' moment. Let me refer us to the Book of Jonah, Chapter 1. This is a popular Bible story.

Jonah was directed by God to go and preach the message of repentance to the people of Nineveh. Jonah, stubbornly, boarded a ship going to Tarshish. But who can rebel against God?

A sudden tempest arose on the sea, shaking the ship and threatening to capsize it. The sailors and the crew did all they could to calm down the incipient sea peril, but it was as if they were pouring water on a duck's back.

Jonah, then, told them to bind him and throw him into the sea. After refusing and the sea continuing its deadly assault, they did, and Jonah was submerged in the sea, in the belly of a big fish. He wept with remorse, asking God to give him a SECOND CHANCE.

And God gave him a SECOND CHANCE, by making the big fish spew up Jonah onto the dry land of Nineveh, and asking him, again, to go and preach the message of repentance to the people of Nineveh.

Not everybody can be so lucky, like Jonah, to have a second chance ( and, in this proverb, 'the second best time'). Hence, it is advisable and imperative to make hay while the sun still shines. Stop procrastinating! It is 'suicidal'! Second chance is not for everybody, know this today. Second chance is not for everybody, and, just like God has hidden the very day He will come again, He has also hidden those who have this special grace to do something they have, by commission or by omission, failed to do.

Still, another opportunity has resurfaced before you and me, telling you that it is high time you did those worthy things you have been nurturing in your heart for so long. One of John Cena's slogan says," Your time is up! MY TIME IS NOW!" Your time, brethren, is now! Rise like the Phoenix from the ashes and be victorious like Nike!