"Viva God"
Stes
de Necker
The
first time I got introduced to the word “viva” was in the late
seventies when Janelle and I visited Argentina Buenos Aires
On our arrival we were
greeted by a huge banner with the words “Viva ICL” written all over it. Being a
true South African “Afrikaner” I asked the owner what the word “viva”
means and he explained to me that it is an acclamation or salutation that comes from the Latin language
meaning "Long live.. !" (or more literally "Live!").
When the political
upheavals started in South African in the early and mid nineties, I accordingly
had some idee of the meaning of the chant “Viva” used by black South Africans
at the time. “Viva ANC” or “Viva Mandela” etc. was heard all over South Africa
and simply meant “Long live the ANC” or “Long live Mandela”. Viva this, or viva
that, almost became part of South African society since then.
During the opening
ceremony of the ANC’s annual congress in Bloemfontein this year, a certain
pastor who was asked to open the proceedings with prayer, gave new meaning to
the chant viva, when he ended his
prayer with the words: “Viva God”!
“Viva God”, long
live God! How delightfull! How innocently naïve in its simplicity!
Unpretentious, with
no intention of being blasphemous or a crowd pleaser whatsoever, simply honest and truth full;
“Viva God!”
How often do we
see people who have met Jesus for the first time and after a period of being
all fiery and enthusiastic about the Lord, later cooling off and in some
instances even reverting back to their old habits and way of living. I have
seen many “new” Christians starting with passion, excitement and zeal, and then
lose interest. It is important to finish what we have started. Paul says that
nothing moves him, except to finish the race strong for Jesus. Sadly there are
so many who do not finish the race and bails out halfway. For them, God only
existed (lived) for a short period in their lives.
Shouldn’t we all,
as Christians, also adopt the salutation: “Viva God"! Long live God in
your and my life! God wants to have the intimate relationship with you and me that He had the day we first gave our lives to Him.
The pastor shared the Word of God with the passion that comes from a burning heart and he touched the hearts of others!
The pastor shared the Word of God with the passion that comes from a burning heart and he touched the hearts of others!
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articles on my blog.
Just click http://stesdeneckers.blogspot.com
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