living our lives

I was on the bus yesterday when a haggard man board the bus with his huge and bulky bags of used aluminium drink cans. At first, it was that feeling of irritation and despise, but soon, I repent and perhaps feel the pity, sympathising with him, yet at the same wonder, wonder if he would want that anyway.

Perhaps in our lives, often we seem to take things for granted, and living in a developed country, there seems no room for poverty and destitute living. Those sights are very much ignored by the media. Society would often wants to create a world where there is only wealth and prosperity, and poverty is nothing but an eyesight. Yet it’s so real, isn’t it, when we look at old and senior citizens cleaning and dusting their backs away, when we see their one-room flats and wonder how the hell is that fit for human living, when we look at their salary, their income, and shocked at how that meagre sum is able to pay for their upkeep. As I watch the man tugging his bags down the stairs home, there is somehow an indescribable pride I feel in him, somehow an admiration for his perseverance and willingness to lead the simple life that he seems destined to lead, even if it leaves him in a state of skin and bones. And it’s times like this can I look back at my life, and fully regret taking things for granted, perhaps even including the faith given to me by grace.

For if I do know that all possessions are temporal, and are insignificant in the eyes of the Lord, why then do I in my prayers pray for passing of grades and getting As? If I am truly a Christian commissioned to live a life of daily worship of others-centeredness, why then even I bother to pray for myself, saved for growth in the spiritual walk and gospel-work? It’s interesting the way it has been pointed out to me that Jesus’s teachings in prayer is specific in only asking for daily bread, not the securing of Christian? For surely the God of providence will grant us our essentials and if he would take us away, then it’s also to his glory and praise.

Should we then mourn of the passing away of Christians, especially of individuals who have suffered due to their faith? I don’t suppose so. Rather, we should rejoice, since he is with the Lord.

To all who have consistent prayers for their friends and relatives in their health, financial abilities, why not just pray that they will grow in Christ instead, why pray that they will come to know him? For if you truly love them, then would you rather see them condemned to the eternal lake of burning sulphur? God’s justice after all is as real as His love, and the vindication of people who have acknowledged him would naturally mean the punishing of the enemies…