NEW MERCIES DAILY!
DATE: Sat. Sept. 13, 2025
TITLE: “Owòk-ìkòt: When One Life Becomes a Thorn to Many”(1).
SCRIPTURE TEXT:
“I went by the field of the slothful, and by the vineyard of the man void of understanding; and, lo, it was all grown over with thorns, and nettles had covered the face thereof, and the stone wall thereof was broken down.” — Proverbs 24:30–31
BY: Effiong Etok
Carrier of God’s Word
THOUGHT FOR THE DAY
“The tragedy of wasted potential is that it becomes a thorn, not only to itself but to everyone around it.”
MESSAGE
Beloved, hear me — Proverbs 24:30–31 paints the very picture of what the Ibibio call “owòk–ìkòt”. The writer saw a field that once had potential but was now wasted. It was “overgrown with thorns” — instead of fruit, it produced pain. It was “covered with nettles” — weeds that choke beauty and sting. Its “stone wall was broken down” — meaning no protection, no boundaries, free for trespassers to enter.
This is exactly what is called “owòk–ìkòt” –a land left uncultivated within a stretch marked for farming. Though it belongs to the owner, it lies idle. Such land becomes a burden: weeds cover it, trespassers invade it, refuse and filth are dumped there, criminals hide there, pests breed there, and its overgrown weeds choke the adjoining farmlands while blocking the beauty of the entire vegetation.
So it is with lives that remain untended — sometimes through indiscipline, other times through the painful mystery of hard luck. They become like owòkìkòt — barren ground in the midst of fruitfulness. But the pain is never private; it stains families, weakens communities, and becomes public mockery.
Eli’s sons turned the priesthood into disgrace, and their father’s entire lineage collapsed in one day (1 Samuel 2–4). Michal, David’s first wife, though queen in the palace, bore the shame of being the only barren woman in a fruitful house (2 Samuel 6:23).
What sorrow when everyone else blossoms, yet one life stands as the unlucky one in the group — in a family, the child who becomes a burden; in marriage, the spouse without joy; in a church, the member whose presence drags reproach. Like owòkìkòt, they are not only unfruitful, they injure others by the shame they carry.
This is why we must cry with prophetic declarations: “Lord, let my life never become owòkìkòt in my family. Let my children never be the shame of their generation. Let no one connected to me be the barren land that hides beauty, harbors pests, or breeds reproach.”
In Jesus’ Mighty Name, Amen!
