Numbers

I went home today pretty happy that the results of my Annual Physical Exam are normal.

BUN, Creatinine, Total Cholesterol, Uric Acid, Hemoglobin, Hemoticrit and WBC Count all within the normal ranges. My HDL is high and my LDL is low which, by the way, I was told was a good thing.

While I was looking at the pieces of paper handed to me containing the results, I can't help but wonder, "So, is this all there is?"

I mean, is life simply about striking a balance between all these numbers? That's it?

Oftentimes, Christians do the same thing - keep numbers. From the seemingly trivial - number of verses memorized or chapters read every night to the big ones like percentage given as tithes or hours spent in prayer, or number of converts in a religious meeting.

It's funny but really, we have got to stop and ask ourselves the question. And hopefully realize together, that life is not merely about counting as much as living.

Jim Elliot had it nailed when he - in one of his journals in college - asked God not for a LONG life, but a FULL one. I believe we should ask just the same.

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Grace by Installment

If we are saved by grace alone, then why do most Christians live as if they are paying for their salvation by installments?

I think we need to realize that the result of both the evil and good of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil is death. The good part is still as deadly as the evil. We need to partake of the fruit from the Tree of Life for us to truly live.

And we can only do so by grace. Meaning, it's undeserved. Nothing bad we did can disqualify us from it; nothing good we can ever accomplish can qualify for it either.

I guess it's about time we truly serve God and not just our guilty conscience.

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Lessons from the Sickbed

Stripped of blinders from my eyes, I saw life unfold as it is: simple and yet full of God’s glory.

Lying on a sickbed yet again has its way of clearing my own vision. Little things like burping and farting mean a whole lot, it made me audibly thank God for such neglected blessings. When you are lying there, stomach all bloated barely being able to eat and consequently not being able to heed nature’s call, I tell you – you will do the exact same thing.

It is funny how I deliberately chose to skip church recently due to my tight schedule at work, and as I found myself lying there, I was caused to watch several Sunday’s worth of sermon on Daystar. No doubt God is challenging me how poor my time management was, and how totally idolatrous my priorities were.

If pain is God’s loudspeaker, then His message couldn’t be any clearer. Though we live in the new covenant, we still have to heed his command to “remember the Sabbath day and keep it holy.” If He being God rested on the seventh day, surely we need a day of rest as well.

Besides, as Christians, we operate not in the same way the world economy does. My source of income is not my job. My Source is God Himself.

Money comes as a result of my obedience to the Owner of the cattle of a thousand hills, not from unhealthy overtimes till daybreak or till the Lord’s Day.

People perish for lack of knowledge. I have to go through this horrible week because I chose not to listen. Other versions of the Bible would say that without vision, people perish. And what is true with nations, is also true with individuals.

It is for this reason that we have to hear from the Lord. From there, as the Lord gives the vision, we must pursue it with all our hearts. As we follow the vision, provision simply follows.

Nobody wins in this world’s rat race. In pursuit of the “good life,” people end up with broken relationships, poor health, and ungodly lives.

Indeed, what benefit is it for a man, to gain the whole world, yet lose his own soul?

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