adminSikhumbuzo Moyo Senior Sports Reporter
BULAWAYO giants Highlanders early this week parted ways with seven of their players for reasons ranging from indiscipline to below par performance while others left because their contracts had run out.The club was professional enough not to publicly state who was kicked out due to indiscipline although it was public in any event. No one in his right senses would want to constantly deal with a rotten soul as that has the danger of spoiling everything. Especially if those who are good see that nothing is being done to the evil doers.
Personally I have no problem with the club taking such an action but I still feel, strongly for that matter, that one of the seven should have been spared.
He should have been spared for the simple reason that he is young, talented and most importantly a Highlanders son.
His name is Joel “Josta” Ngodzo, one month into his 25th birthday today. The other six, while they did duty to this great club, were “buys”, players who played first team football in other clubs other than Highlanders but not Josta, his first pay came from Highlanders, in 2010, just five years ago.
The boy comes from a family that gave its all to this great institution, elder brothers Johannes Ngodzo and Zephania Ngodzo all served Bosso with distinction and undoubted loyalty.
We were not told why the club parted ways with him but it is believed its partly to do with his off field behaviour that seemed to border on drunkenness.
His talent is undoubted and is a crowd favourite. New coach Bongani Mafu and his assistant Mandla Mpofu should have been given an opportunity to see this genius on the field and then make their own decision. Mafu has human science qualifications which would have come in very handy in rehabilitating the boy.
Yes the boy would be seen, now and again, drunk, especially when not among the 18 picked up for the weekend game.
But truly was the decision to let Josta go a well thought one? Couldn’t the club go out of its way to try and rehabilitate its own son? Why throw your very own into a thick forest full of dangerous animals? Is Bosso this ruthless, even to its very own?
What kind of a father who throws his son to the streets without trying to knock sense into his head? Yes the young man was probably overwhelmed by the huge money and property which he received when he moved to a then mega rich new kid on the block, FC Platinum. Fame and money got the better of him but surely that does not mean he should be thrown to the dogs by his own family. It would have been understandable had it been FC Platinum because he is not their son, all they wanted from him were his services and if he can’t offer them anymore, why keep him?
I feel Highlanders should bring back that boy, give him a strict behavioural code to follow and make him fully aware that he is not bigger than the club and if he misbehaves, disciplinary measures will be taken while he is still in the club structures. The club can fine him his week’s or even monthly wages instead of destroying that boy.
Josta too, should be told that life is precious and a football career can be so short if not properly managed.
We’re even told in the Book of Luke about the Prodigal Son’s shenanigans but his father still went on to forgive him.
The Parable of the Prodigal Son is found in Luke Chapter 15, verses 11-32. The main character in the parable, the forgiving father, whose character remains constant throughout the story, is a picture of God. In telling the story, Jesus identifies Himself with God in His loving attitude to the lost. The younger son symbolises the lost.The major theme of this parable seems not to be so much the conversion of the sinner, as in the previous two parables but rather the restoration of a believer into fellowship with the Father.
We see in this story the graciousness of the father overshadowing the sinfulness of the son, as it is the memory of the father’s goodness that brings the prodigal son to repentance.
The younger son asks his father for his share of his estate, which would have been half of what his older brother would receive. Though it was perfectly within his rights to ask, it was not a loving thing to do, as it implied that he wished his father dead. Instead of rebuking his son, the father patiently grants him his request. We all possess this foolish ambition to be independent. A sinful state is also a state of constant discontent. This son learned the hard way that covetousness leads to a life of dissatisfaction and disappointment.
He also learned that the most valuable things in life are the things you cannot buy or replace.
In Verse 13 we read that he travels to a distant country. It is evident from his previous actions that he had already made that journey in his heart, and the physical departure was a display of his willful disobedience to all the goodness his father had offered.
In the process, he squanders all his father had worked so hard for on selfish, shallow fulfilment, losing everything.
His financial disaster is followed by a natural disaster in the form of a famine, which he failed to plan for.
At this point he sells himself into physical slavery to a Gentile and finds himself feeding pigs, a detestable job to the Jewish people.
Needless to say, he must have been incredibly desperate at that point to willingly enter into such a loathsome position. And what an irony that his choices led him to a position in which he had no choice but to work, and for a stranger at that, doing the very things he refused to do for his father.
To top it off, he apparently was paid so little that he longed to eat the pig’s food. Just when he must have thought life could not get any worse, he couldn’t even find mercy among the people. Apparently, once his wealth was gone, so were his friends. The text clearly says, “No one gave him anything” (vs. 16). Even these unclean animals seemed to be better off than he was at this point.
The son begins to reflect on his condition and realises that even his father’s servants had it better than he.
His painful circumstances help him to see his father in a new light and bring him hope. This is reflective of the sinner when he/she discovers the destitute condition of his life because of sin.
It is a realisation that, apart from God, there is no hope. The son devises a plan of action. Though at a quick glance it may seem that he may not be truly repentant, but rather motivated by his hunger, a more thorough study of the text gives new insights.
He is willing to give up his rights as his father’s son and take on the position of his servant. Regardless of the motivation, it demonstrates a true humility and true repentance, not based on what he said but on what he was willing to do and eventually acted upon.
He realises he had no right to claim a blessing upon return to his father’s household, nor does he have anything to offer, except a life of service, in repentance of his previous actions. With that, he is prepared to fall at his father’s feet and hope for forgiveness and mercy.
This prodigal son was satisfied to return home as a slave, but to his surprise and delight is restored back into the full privilege of being his father’s son. He had been transformed from a state of destitution to complete restoration.
I still believe Joel should return home to his family, which is Highlanders.
Lets chat.
Email: [email protected] Whatsapp: 0777878094
Online Reporter