By the kind Grace of God Almighty, we have walked into the year – 2020! The kind grace of God Almighty has walked us into the embryonic stage of a new decade, and I am personally grateful to the maker for giving me the opportunity to be part of the living, in this new era that, for me, will usher my faith in God into realms of unwavering fortitude and endless pastures of green.
For us Ghanaians, as will be the case in some other countries worldwide, 2020 is not only another year; it is an election year, in which crucial decisions would have to be made.
I was born and christened into, the Evangelical Presbyterian (EP) Church, Ghana, and I continue to remain an active and loyal member of my Church.
While remaining loyal to my Church, I claim no religious piety and do not seek to strut around wearing the most glowing raiment and waving my Christian credentials.
Despite not wanting to claim piety, I have no doubt in my mind and can feel it in my spirit, that, there is a strong Hunger in the Belly of Mother Ghana for Righteousness to Reign Supreme in the Land.
I believe in the Power of the Spoken Word because my bible (the Manual of my human existence), tells me that, it is with the Power of the word, that, God created the universe.
The Book of Proverbs in my bible tells me that, “The tongue has the power of life and death” (Proverbs 18.21).
If the tongue has the power of life and death, it stands to reason that at the birth of Ghana, the crafters of our National Anthem and National Pledge, put the power of life on the tongue of the Nation; but we have run away from proclaiming the destiny that God bestowed on us.
“God bless our homeland Ghana and make our nation great and strong, Bold to defend forever, the cause of freedom and of right. Fill our hearts with true humility, Make us cherish fearless honesty, and help us to resist oppressors’ rule with all our will and might, evermore”
“I promise on my honour to be faithful and loyal to Ghana my motherland, I pledge myself to the service of Ghana with all my strength and with all my might. I promise to hold in high esteem, our heritage won for us through the blood and toil of our fathers. And I pledge myself in all things to uphold and defend the good name of Ghana, so help me God”.
At morning assembly and various ceremonies, the people of Ghana recite the Pledge of Allegiance.
In the words of both our National Anthem and National Pledge, God is duly acknowledged – making it ipso facto that, Ghana was born and christened on the foundation of God and His righteousness.
Again, my bible tells me that, “Righteousness and Justice”, are Foundation of the Throne of God. If Righteousness and Justice are the foundation of the Throne of God, and Ghana gives a place of honour to God in our Anthem and Pledge, it stands to reason, that, Ghana was established on God’s Foundation of Righteousness and Justice.
Is our Motto, not, Freedom and Justice? Is it any wonder therefore if I am of the firm belief that, rooted deeply inside the belly of the nation, is a strong hunger and thirst for, Righteousness to rule?
As a nation, we seem not to really appreciate the potency of the words of our Anthem and Pledge, hence the continuous quagmire in which we wallow.
We have conspired in building an impregnable wall of, stagnant growth, because we have not breathed absolute life into the words our Anthem and Pledge.
We have turned the singing of the Anthem, and the recital of the Pledge, into dogmatic rituals without soul and spirit, and so the words mean nothing to us.
How many of us, really, “cherish fearless honesty”?
How many of us, are ready to “resist oppressors’ rule with all our will and might, evermore”?
How many of us, pledge ourselves “to uphold and defend the good name of Ghana”?
How is God supposed to “bless our homeland Ghana”, if we do not ‘worship” the words of the anthem and genuinely evoke the spirit behind the words?
“… so help me God”; how is God supposed the help us if we do not live by the words the pledge?
Is it not sad that after 62 years of our existence as a nation, Ghana holds a trophy of ignominy per our inglorious ranking of being second behind war-torn Sudan when it comes to, open defecation, on the African continent?
I believe that God destined Ghana to be His nation that is why He gave us the words of our Anthem and Pledge, to be the illuminating lights of our paths.
We have continued to grope in the dark because we have allowed the Dragon (Lucifer) to eat at the heart of our destiny.
We have allowed the Dragon to deceive us into believing that Righteousness cannot Rule over Ghana.
Who says that politics is a “dirty game”? Politics is not a dirty game; it is the Dragon who has perverted the Politics of God, and turned it into his dirty tool!
My bible makes the point poignantly in the words of John 10:10, “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy …”
Why have we conspired to allow the Dragon to steal our God-given destiny?
As a people, and as a nation, Ghanaians and Ghana must, as a matter of pressing urgency, begin to voraciously eat and feed on the words of the Anthem and Pledge, so we rain down righteousness on this dear land of our birth.
“If my people who are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land,” (II Chronicles, 7:14).
Ghana is in dire need of divine healing and heavenly spiritual cleansing, and all true sons and daughters of the land cannot deny this truism!
Is, Samuel Koku Anyidoho a Prophet? Maybe I am, maybe I am not! Whatever be my status in the eyes of man, I know that God created me in His own image and made me a joint heir with His only begotten Son, Jesus Christ, and so I have the Power and Authority of Heaven to make declarations into the life of this dear nation of ours.
When he lived as President, His Excellency John Evans Atta-Mills never lost an opportunity to prophesy into the life of the nation via the words “… Ghana will not die, Ghana shall live and give glory and honour to God Almighty”.
July 24th this year, will be eight years since the passing-on of John Evans Atta-Mills – he is no more with us on this transient journey of the living but his words still echo in the ears of the Land and I call forth the Heavens to breathe greatness and longevity into the life of Mother Ghana.
When the sun sets on my human existence (as it surely shall at God’s appointed time), may my glory NOT be measured in moth-ridden Positions and Possessions; may my footprints be etched at the footstool of God where the Cherubim and Seraphim find their gait and splendour!
It is my solemn prayer, that, finally, the Kingdom of God shall be established here in Ghana, for Righteousness to Rule!
A blessed New Year and New Decade, to one and all.
Shalom.
Samuel Koku Anyidoho
(Founder & CEO, Atta-Mills Institute)