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Chioma is a dedicated Christian. She is regular at Bible study and prayer meetings as well as other church programs. And with all these, she’s at the top of her class.
Tunde is also a believer; he even goes outside of the city to attend programs and goes out of his way to be in church. He is a prayer warrior. However, his academics don’t reflect it.
Linda is an atheist and does not bother about the concept of religion. She believes hard work is the key to success. To show this, she is performing well academically.
Emeka is also an unbeliever. Very carefree and lives life as it goes. He does not need religion to set limits for his life. Yet, he performs poorly in his studies.
In the university setting, you meet all kinds of individuals and their views on religion. There are the “SUs”, ordinary church goers, carefree ones and others. However, it is not easily seen how rooted they are in their religious practices, hence the saying that many are religious but not spiritual.
There are people like Chioma who are not only dedicated Christians but also hold executive positions in fellowship. Yet she performs well. How does she balance it all? Setting the right priorities and time management crowned with the Lord’s guidance is her watchword. After all her Bible says “I will be the head and not the tail “.
What about Tunde who is also a believer? He even holds more executive positions than Chioma but his grades do not seem to be smiling at him. Although he tries to attend some of his classes, he spends more of his time going from state to state to minister or attend conventions. It is good to hold positions and be regular at fellowship but not at the expense of our studies. We need to remember we were first students before fellowship members. Thus we need to give attention to our studies; church is not an excuse to miss academic activities.
Linda on the other hand believes her hard work is what got her to such high grades. Could it be good luck? Mere coincidence? Or just a case of retentive memory? Having no church to attend gives her all the time to read and rest. There are people who have photographic memory so they always remember what they read while some are good at remembering what they hear. Once they are in class, they are good to go. The unfortunate thing is we don’t all fall in this category. So, Linda’s luck might not be your luck.
Emeka who is also like Linda in belief but performs poorly in his academics, remains in a discombobulated state. He sees religion as a journey with too many rules hence his freedom to live the life that suits him. He often puts effort to read, attend tutorials and pays attention in class but all results are futile. Who knows, maybe he needs God.
Many of us fall in one category or the other, the question is: Are we satisfied with it? Is religion a stepping stone or stumbling block? Are you Chioma, Tunde, Linda or Emeka? The choice is yours. It is important to set goals and targets for yourself and strive to attain them. Faith without works is dead.
Osarennoma Ogbeide
Osarennoma Ogbeide, First Year student of Psychology, University of Ibadan.
