Bukky, my friend of blessed memory told me this hilarious story. A young man had been asking her out on a date and she reluctantly agreed to go with him. He came to the office to see her and as they get to the car park, he stood beside a brand new supermodel, turned to her with a gleeful smile on his face as he asked a most ridiculous question.

‘Have you met my car?’

‘Excuse me?’ Bukky asked, looking at him with large eyes.

‘i asked if you have met my car.’

The man looked really serious and Bukky knew he did not make a spelling mistake. I was surprised when she told me the story. I thought you MEET human beings and see possessions.

Like,’ Have you seen my car?’

And ‘Have you met my sister?’

I meditated on it and saw the reality behind those simple words. Many people are so attached to material things. They worship them and are ready to do anything to get them. The natural order of life should be, USE THINGS and TREASURE PEOPLE. But many USE PEOPLE and CHERISH THINGS. Any wise business person should know that the human resources of an organisation are the most important part.

It is unwise to drive your staff like slaves, refuse to pay them and acquire all the material possessions in the world. Parents who chase money to the detriment of their children realise in their old age that they have short changed themselves. For none of those material possessions can provide warmth and love.

That is why it is inhuman and foolish to make a human sacrifice to gain wealth. If only you know the worth of that person you have destroyed. No amount of money can buy that treasure that you have wasted.

When I lost my father and I saw the number of friends who came for the burial, I knew I had people. How dejected I would have felt if no one showed up. Even if people had given me millions of naira, I would have felt miserable without anyone by my side.

No matter how good my write-ups are, if no one is reading them, I cannot be called a successful writer. True, you may have been ill treated in time past by people but you still need them. No man is an island.

My pastor, Rev Sam Adeyemi preached a message last Sunday and asked a crucial question: Will You Recognise God? Quite an inspiring question I must say. The truth is that many have a ‘funny’ impression of how God looks. But it is not difficult to imagine how he looks. He is there, seated next to you. He is mirrored in the eyes of that person whom you see every day and hardly notice.

Like my pastor said in that sermon: ‘The people you meet have a piece of God in them.’ Look at the story in Matthew 25: 32-46. Some people were castigated because they saw God and did not recognise him. They failed to assist that person who needed help that they could render. Because whatever you do to the people that God created in his image, you do to him.

People are great assets. Treasure them.