On the 4th of March 2010, a Swedish pilot was arrested at Amsterdam’s Schiphol Airport as he was about to fly 101 passengers on a Boeing 737 to Turkey. His offence was that he was using a fake commercial pilot license.
How would you like to be flown by this Pilot Or better still, how would you like a doctor that cheated in exams to pass or purchased a fake university certificate to handle a surgical operation on you, your parent, relatives or friend? Many people will shudder at these suggestions yet they engage in cheating and helping others to cheat in examinations. They are bringing a terrible curse on themselves without knowing.
What is the purpose of examinations? It is to find out who is ready with required knowledge and skills to handle specific types of responsibilities within the society. It means that those who are allowed to fly others in an airplane must be those that possess the required knowledge and skills to fly. The same goes for builders, doctors, architects, teachers etc. Examinations helps us to know who has acquired the right knowledge and skills to treat our brothers, build our bridges, make our drugs, judge our cases etc.
Every time you cheat in examinations or help another person to cheat, you are not only helping to defeat the purpose of examination, but you are also enthroning the culture of corruption in the government and general society. Abraham Lincoln said, “The principle of schooling in one generation will become the principle of leadership in the next generation”. This is bad enough yet there is something worse. When you cheat in exams, you are breaking the 8th commandment that says “You shall not steal” (Exo 20:15 NIV). Anyone who tries to make progress in life by breaking God’s law is actually laying a faulty foundation for his career and happiness. He has yielded the foundation of his future to the devil. The bible warns “Neither give place to the devil (Eph 4:27 KJV).
This warning is important because problems will arise in the future as a result of the faulty foundations that has been laid. Prayers from the most holy of men will not solve these problems. When the devil decides to make use of the grounds that have been yielded to him nothing less than a true repentance that comes with restitution will do. The bible warns again “If the foundations be destroyed, what can the righteous do?” (Psa 11:3 KJV).
If you say you are a Christian yet you cheat or help others to cheat in examinations, your salvation is in doubt. Jesus said “Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven. (Mat 7:21 KJV) He went ahead to teach how to differentiate between the fakes and the genuine. He said “…by their fruit you will recognize them”. (Mat 7:20 NIV) What type of fruit are you bearing?
You may argue, if I don’t do it others are doing it and are getting ahead of me. Are you saying that Jehovah Saboath cannot make room for you in this world without you cheating? Where is your faith? Are you having a form of godliness but denying the power of it? Jesus said “Everything is possible for him who believes.” (Mar 9:23 NIV). I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. (Phil 4:13)
Exam cheats give themselves and society a faulty foundation. They steal the rewards that rightly belong to those who have worked hard. They help create a system of reward that benefit the wicked and punish the righteous. They promote a culture of mediocrity. God’s word is unequivocal, “…you yourselves cheat and do wrong, and you do this to your brothers. Do you not know that the wicked will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: Neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters nor adulterers nor male prostitutes nor homosexual offenders nor thieves nor the greedy nor drunkards nor slanderers nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God”. (1Co 6:8-10 NIV)
You may say that you did not know these things, if you are right; the time to repent in truth is now. The bible says “In the past God overlooked such ignorance, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent. For he has set a day when he will judge the world with justice by the man he has appointed. He has given proof of this to all men by raising him from the dead.” (Act 17:30-31). True repentance involves a quality decision to stop all your involvement in examination cheating, confessing these sins to God and ask him for forgiveness and join like minded people to fight this scourge.
If you chose to repent now, God will accept you, transform and make you his child. Jesus will say to you what he said to Zaccheaus (the man in the bible who repented in a similar fashion), “Today salvation has come to this house.” (Luke 19:9) If you desire to pray the prayer of repentance, your prayer to God should acknowledge
That you have sinned (Confessed all the sins you can remember to God)
That you are turning away from your sin (tell God the kind of change you desire)
That you want God to forgive your sins. (Ask God to make you clean in his sight)
That you are submitting yourself to Jesus as your Lord and Saviour. (Offer yourself to God to serve him as your master and Lord)
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