Book Review: One Day At A Time With Kumuyi

 Book: Daily Manna 2023 (A daily devotional guide)

Author: William Folorunso Kumuyi

Reviewer: Banji Ojewale

Page Run: 379

Publishers: Life Press Ltd, Lagos

The philosophy of the sages of old was that the day’s destiny depended on what you made of the morning. If, as you were roused back to consciousness from sleep, you plotted a trajectory of triumph over possible trials or troubles the day usually had in store, you would have won some good part of its 24 hours to your side. So, these ancient men and women put forth this axiom: the morning shows the day, meaning, what you do or permit in the morning is what the day hurls back at you every hour of the period.

It would be reckless and suicidal therefore to rush into the vicissitudes of the day without an introspection that creates, as it were, the image of the day you desire for yourself. Otherwise, the mayhem of our age forged in its merciless rat race would pound you with its killer punches.

But in his presentations in this 2023 Daily Manna devotional guide, Pastor William Kumuyi, assures the reader that he can avoid being a victim of the hidden treacheries of the day. His prescription is simple: open the day with God. Don’t stop with beginning with Him. Move on with Him as the hours tick through noon. And as the day thins into a close for the night to lead you to bed, you must not drop the God Who has seen you through it all.

Page after page, Kumuyi, the General Superintendent of Deeper Christian Life Ministry, delivers short meditational notes inspired by the Holy Bible. He picks a text and turns it inside out with dexterity to bring forth a message to seamlessly guide you through the day. All the cleric does is to lead you into the presence of the One Who knows the secrets of the day. Once you give Him your day as you absorb the text and the devotional message, you’re assured of His Captainship of the day.

For instance, the study on New Year’s Day is symbolic of the purpose of Kumuyi’s 2023 Daily Manna. His standpoint on beginnings as “cloudy, dizzy and hazy’’ is the same view man has about the start of day. Like the beginning of a day, there’s “formlessness, darkness and uncertainty.” Kumuyi writes that as the Spirit of God put an end to the void that was witnessed in the account of the creation of the world, man can take a cue and allow God take over his day. 

The pastor declares: “The Lord must have His way in our lives before we can enjoy His peace…He knows all the entrails of the womb of the New Year (and all its days, weeks, months and seasons) and He only can deliver us from its evil.’’

The inherent lesson is that day-to-day challenges are inevitable. But they are not invincible. They master us because we rush into their deadly embrace without first embracing the Word of God early at sunup.

Kumuyi’s trademarks of muscular language, inspired Scripture explication, profundity of exhortation and, wait for it, rhythmic and adorning alliteration, are all pleasing experiences in the book. The regular features, Key verse, Thought for the day, along with a section to guide one read the whole Bible in a year, are accommodated in the work.

The 2023 Daily Manna has been rebranded, not only wearing new colours with reader-friendly inside and cover pages, but also it is emerging in two versions, paperback and deluxe, to cater for more class tastes.

It is expected that reaching out to God every morning through Daily Manna in homes, hotel rooms, healthcare facilities, correctional centres, police cells, schools etc. would allow the Lord to sanitize our system through the teachings of His servant.

*Ojewale is a writer in Ota, Ogun State.