We had our good brotherhood chat as usual, where he shared with me how God blessed the PolyDINS ppl during their leadership camp - and how God protected him and another brother during a car accident (very scary leh).
Anyway, after that, we prayed for one another. And I had shared with him about my spiritual dryness and downcastedness, and asked him to pray for me in this area.
While he was praying for me, this verse came to mind in the midst of my own (rambling) mental prayer: "The righteous shall live by faith."
Shared with Andrew, and he grinned and added, "... and not by sight!"
Prophetic sia... haha.
But yah, was walking back home, and pondering about that verse. Grace, and faith.
Why faith, anyway?
Think it's related to my spiritual struggle.
You know those times when you are struggling to experience God... struggling even to open your Bible? When a computer game is so much more appealing to you than your quiet time? Where Wikipedia.org is more exciting than BibleGateway.com? (Confess! Haha...)
Where you chose to spend quiet time literally - by sleeping an extra hour? And you cringe every time you read about Jesus waking up very early in the morning to pray or about someone sharing about how he experiences God so actively...
I was wondering about these. We know that these are not spiritual "attainments" in themselves, but rather, channels to receive the waters of God's grace.
But... we still struggle anyway to seek God. That's the bottomline.
I think it's about faith ultimately.
Will I have faith that spending an hour of solitude with God in prayer is more fulfilling than a whole day of busy work?
Will I have faith that reading and waiting upon God as I read His Word is going to satisfy my soul more than an hour of computer games?
Will I have faith that when I choose to do some ministry project instead of spending the time doing some extra relaxing (I'm not saying relaxing's wrong... but you can have too much relaxing... haha), He will enrich my tired soul... and also bless many people through the project I do because of Him?
Will I have faith that as I go for sub-district fellowship later, I will actually hear from God? And as I seek to bless the brothers and sisters with a simple cheerful smile... He can use a tiny smile, a kind word, an encouraging pat to bless someone else in need?
I think there's so many things I can do by faith...
Faith that God rewards those who earnestly seek Him.
The righteous shall live by faith. Not by the works themselves, but having faith in God that He
And how does that link to grace? Was thinking about that too. And Romans 5 came to mind:
Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God. No only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope..." There's so much more, but my fingers don't have the energy to type everything out haha.
Re-reading Romans again. Heart strangely warmed. Faith -> Righteousness.
I'm still struggling to grasp the whole idea of faith being credited as righteousness. But it's true... it's just so BIG that my mind can't fully put its arms around it to embrace it completely. Even after more than a decade of being a Christian. Haha... but again then, I don't think one can fully grasp... only if one's arms could span from the east to the west... could one ever fully grasp the full measure of God's grace. "As far as the east is from the west, so far has He removed our transgressions from us..." Aaaah. Amazing grace. No wonder every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth will sing, "Worthy is the Lamb that was slain..."
(Incongruously, I think of the mechanical singing fish mounted on a board belting that song out!)
But anyway, yes, my heart is reminded again that God doesn't justify me because of my own "righteousness", or the good works I have done, but rather, it's the other way around. Because I have placed my faith in the name and work of his Son Jesus Christ, God counts me as righteous in His eyes... the theologians call this "imputation" of righteousness.
Ah. How so often I forget this essential truth, this basic doctrine.
As I walked back home, I passed by two seedlings in the ground. I was surprised, because the ground was totally covered in grass, but these two seedlings were growing, despite the seeming overcrowding of the grass. I knelt down to examine these two remarkable specimens, and saw that underneath all the grass, the seedlings had been transplanted with their own soil. That is how they were able to flourish, even in the seemingly difficult ground, where the grass had threatened to crowd out the seedlings.
And as I looked around me, I saw many tall strong trees, all of the same species. Tall, sturdy and woody.
Faith is the unseen soil of the seen tree.
Finally, another thought. As I was thinking about character, I pondered about the role of character in a man's growth. And I recalled Rudyard Kipling's "If" poem. "If" listed out all the virtues that made a man, and it's indeed a very inspiring poem - a genuine classic.
However, in the midst of it all, I wonder about the focus on building up men. It's possible for us to focus so much on building up men who are deemed to be men in our society's culture. Wise men, noble men, gentlemen, courageous men... good virtues, all of them... but if you study the Old Testament, the prophets rebuked these men, full of character though they be, for not being men of God. Ephraim was regarded as one of the most powerful and noble tribes of Israel - with a genealogy tracing all the way back to Joseph himself, a righteous and godly man! And yet, Ephraim turned to idols and died spiritually. Or the wise men of Teman... renowned for their wisdom... and they were fodder for the sword. Warriors of Babylon... crying out like women in labour. The prophets minced no words for the men of their times, whether Jew or Gentile, who were wise and respected in the eyes of the world, but had no regard for God.
And the prophet Micah sounded the call - "And what does the LORD require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God."
So am still chewing on these thoughts. Perhaps we could become so focused on making men out of our brothers in the church... that we forget to make them men of God.
Of God. The ekklesia. The called-out ones. The people of God. "Once you were not a people... but now you are the people of God." To rephrase (perhaps it's a bit out of context, my apologies)... once we were not men... but now we are the men of God.
Maybe we first ought to help our brothers establish their faith in God. Because when Christ is in the picture, and when He is the centre of their lives and the core of their being, then He can not only make them into men... He can make them fishers of men. Twelve bumbling disciples, comedic even... and Jesus shaking His head at them at every turn. "*sigh* Guys... you still have much to learn..."
Cool, isn't it? :)
Else we risk making leaders and warriors who have no faith. Don't forget the 12 spies were all respected and mature leaders of their tribes... yet 10 of them turned their people away from the Promised Land, simply because they chose to focus on the giants instead of the giant God. As CS Lewis quoted in another context, "We... make men without chests."
I like Caleb. Haha. Geratric, probably shaking his wooden cane... and yet declaring fiercely to Joshua, his fellow spy, "The Lord has been faithful to me... I'm eighty, and yet still fit to go out into battle!" I wonder how many of us will be like that man of faith when we're eighty.
No comments:
Post a Comment