Every now and then, I use the Bussia road at Odorkor when I decide to go to church there.
Squatted at the side of this road is a scruffy mental derelict. For as long as I have been using this road, I see this man sitting there with his hands on his knees and his knees, pressing against his chest. He is always there. Whether it is a  very sunny afternoon or a rainy morning, he will still come and sit there.
As strangers strolled him by, he would stretch his hand and ask in a sublime tone “massa, give me 20 pesewas.”

In these years of inflation and economic unrest, this man’s asking price has not once gone up or down. It’s always been twenty pesewas.

Once, I was moved to give him some coins but I was told by someone nearby that he was going to use the money for drugs.
Then it hit me. This man, whoever he was, had thrown away his life just because he, at one stage in his life,  decided to use drugs.
Whatever purpose He was supposed to fulfill, whatever future he was supposed to have, he had traded it to satisfy an insatiable craving.
Even in his condition, he was still finding ways to please himself.
I don’t know how or why he started using drugs and I’m not judging him. But the point is he had depreciated the value of his life to just a handful of some coins. 20 pesewas.
Friends, we are bought with a price. We are highly esteemed in the eyes of God and He longs for more than anything that we thrive in the life He has planted us.
Don’t allow certain things in life to cause you to lose your value. Solomon, in the book of proverbs says the promiscuous woman, for instance, reduces you to the price of a loaf of bread.
Today, as I walked along the streets, I noticed the man wasn’t sitting there…for the very first time.
Perhaps, a generous someone had taken him to a facility to help him. Perhaps, he had just changed location. Perhaps, he had even passed on.
As I came across his spot, I tucked my hands into my pocket and picked out a 20 pesewa coin. I placed it on the slab he used to sit on and whispered a short prayer for him, wherever he is.
It’s sad to see that a man who was meant for so much greatness allowed the devil to destroy and steal from him.
Anytime I will walk along this road, I will do well to remember my true value and the big price that  God paid for my life. I’m worth more than a handful of coins. I’m worth more than 20 pesewas.