Thursday, July 12, 2007

A long way home

I'm back! In dear old Ipoh once again after a 6 day journey to the country down south for my cousin's wedding. (Some people have asked me how the wedding was. Well, I did 'chumcha' -serve tea-how appropriate!- at the tea ceremony for the first time. At first I thought I'd have to kneel to do so, how horrific and potentially embarrassing that would be, but no, I can stand up. Phew. The wedding was a church service, short and sweet and SWEET. The groom sang to my cousin! Personally I would want a wedding with more oomph, something that showcases my and my intended's personality -but that's just me. Maybe they do it this way because they are such a sweet loving couple.)

Anyway, I had a lot of time to think and mull during the long journey to and fro (7 hours one way) and during frequent bouts of waiting for this and that. Sometimes when you think too much, it's like exploring the mansion of your mind - an 18 year old cache of thoughts and ideas and beliefs and passions and experiences. Sometimes you chance upon an attic and you find things buried deep, things you had never realised and you don't really want to acknowledge as being part of you. Our trophies we gladly put on display, but what have we hidden deep within?

You realise that though you profess God with your mouth and sing praises to Him, you haven't let Him take full control in your life. John Piper writes in his book, "Don't Waste Your Life" (yes, the title lets you know clearly what it's going to be about)

"You may not be sure that you want your life to make a difference. Maybe you don't care very much whether you make a lasting difference for the sake of something great. You just want people to like you. If people would just like being around you, you'd be satisfied. Or if you could just have a good job with a good wife, or husband, and a couple of good kids and a nice car and long weekends and a few good friends, a fun retirement, and a quick and easy death, and no hell - if you could have all that (even without God) - you would be satisfied."

Stop and think for a moment. Would you?

To tell you the truth, I was only two steps away from saying, "I would".

Add to that statement, graduates from a top university, earns a load of money, does her bit to help the marginalised in society, gains recognition in her chosen field, the respect and admiration of her peers....I do not know if I would say no.

In a way, it reminds me of Satan tempting Jesus in the desert.

" The tempter came to him and said, 'If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread.'
Jesus answered, 'It is written: 'Man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.''
...
" Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their splendour. 'All this I will give you,' he said, 'if you will bow down and worship me.'
Jesus said to him, "Away from me, Satan! For it is written: 'Worship the Lord your God, and serve him only."
Matt 4: 4-5, 8-10

To have everything, except God....would I take the bait?

Another extract from John Piper:

"I will tell you what a tragedy is. I will show you how to waste your life. Consider a story from the February 1998 edition of Reader's Digest, which tells about a couple who "took early retirement from their jobs in the Northeast five years ago when he was 59 and she was 51. Now they live in Punta Gorda, Florida, where they cruise on their 30 foot trawler, play softball and collect shells." At first, when I read it I thought it might be a joke. A spoof on the American Dream. But it wasn't. Tragically, this was the dream: Come to the end of your life - your one and only precious, God-given life - and let the last great work of your life, before you give an account to your Creator, be this: playing softball and collecting shells. Picture them before Christ at the great day of judgment: "Look, Lord. See my shells." That is a tragedy."

Look, Lord. See my shells.

Doesn't it chill you?

However, there is hope. We need not have only shells to present to our Lord Jesus Christ on the day of reckoning. But what a tragedy if only then we realise that the things we have been thirsting and working for all our lives, fall into nothing in the face of eternity with Christ!

I think some teenage Christians are too fond of just singing the words "I live for you" or "Everything I have I give to you" or similiar sentiments. Truly, giving yourself, all of yourself, to God is an ongoing, daily thing. Sometimes we falter, sometimes we feel discouraged, but that is the way of the cross.

This book (given to me by a kind friend of my sister's, Raj) really opened my eyes to the truth: that living for God is so much more all-emcompassing, demanding, and joyful than I ever thought it could be.

Once I finish it (I'm about halfway through), I shall blog more on my thoughts about it. Don't worry, not all my posts will be so serious and soul-searching. If you find this overly serious. All the same, it's good to spend a little time thinking about eternity.

By the way, after I finish this book it is free for lending to anyone who is interested. Just take good care of it lah.

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