Thursday, November 23, 2006
Hebrews 11 - meditations and thoughts...
Hey dear bros, sisters!
YF asked us to read and reflect on Heb 11, so went home and read through it. Ithink these particular verses spoke to me...
[Sorry, it's very long, so bear wif me... and do share your own thoughts too... it'll really help to encourage and edify others ok... thanks! :D]
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1. "[God] rewards those who earnestly seek him..."
I think God really wanted to draw my attention to this verse, because what He wants is a heart that earnestly seeks Him. Such a God-seeking attitude pleases Him, because it shows trust in Him.
I remembered this verse really convicted and encouraged me last time when I was revising for my 'A' levels, and I had really done very badly for my prelims (1B, 2Es and an O, and a D7 for GP.). So my parents objected me to going for church services as they wanted me to stay home and study. But this verse convicted me that I must have faith in Him, and even as I study my best, He wants me to seek Him earnestly too, and for my case, that would be committing to attend service and fellowship even though it wouldn't be easy. And thank God, He blessed me with 3As and 1B for my A levels, and the best blessing of all: an A2 for GP! :D So shared that testimony a long time ago...
But now, I was thinking about that, and wondering where my faith in God was, where I so childlikely clung on to this verse last time... but now many years later, I forget so often to seek Him earnestly in something as small as an exam...
But I think what He wants me to remember is that every difficulty - in fact, every moment is an opportunity to exercise faith in God. No moment is ever too small for Him - in fact He longs for us to put every moment of our lives under His perfect control. Eugene's sharing touched me a lot, because it expressed what I was struggling to articulate - my own frustration at not giving my best in studying for Him. But this verse reminded me to SEEK HIM EARNESTLY... because He has PROMISED that He rewards those who earnestly seek Him... He is SUPER-pleased when we have faith in Him!!!
2. "By faith Moses, when he had grown up, refused to be known...as the son of Pharaoh's daughter...
He chose to be mistreated along with the people of God...
He regarded disgrace for the sake of Christ as of greater value...because he was looking ahead to his reward...
By faith he left Egypt...
..he persevered because he saw him who is invisible..."
Something I learnt from these verses is that faith is also a personal decision. Moses, when he was old enough to make personal decisions for himself, chose to refuse, chose to be mistreated, chose to regard, chose to look ahead, chose to leave, chose to persevere...
So an important point for myself to apply today is that faith is an active choice. Faith firstly is an active decision to unidentify myself with the old Yeu Ann, the insecure Yeu Ann, the selfish, arrogant, childish and prideful Yeu Ann... and to choose to identify myself together with the people of God, His universal church. To identify myself with the truth what God has already said about me - to see myself as He sees me as what I will be, even though I am not yet now what I will be.
And not just active identification, but actively choosing to forsake the "pleasures of sin for a short time" for a much greater REWARD, that He promised to those who love Him...
And why did he choose to do all these?
I think it's because it came from knowing God's heart, that He would never shortchange him with a lousy reward or even no reward at all... and also, more powerfully, he SAW Him who IS invisible.
Consider the semantics of the grammar tenses in that verse. It has a very powerful meaning. What it means is that Moses actually had a PAST experience in which he somehow managed to SEE a God who is ALWAYS invisible. So what does that really mean?
I think, even if we didn't see a burning bush like Moses did, we can choose to SEE God working invisibly in our daily lives.
To see how He sends the rain upon the thirsty earth,
to see how He feeds the birds every fresh morning,
to see Him present in fellow Christians who love and care for one another ("For where 2 or 3 are gathered in My name, there I AM with them...")
to see Him working fresh in your mind... (you were so tired, but somehow, after praying, somehow your mind started becoming sharper...)
to see His world in a grain of sand,
and His heaven in a wildflower...
to purposely sense His presence while you're worshipping Him...
to purposely sense His presence while you're using the loo...
to purposely sense His presence as you read His Word...
to purposely sense His presence as you read this blog...
And the opposite is true. Ever experienced times when someone chose to treat you as invisible even when you were right there in front of him/her? Think about how much that hurts... and map that hurt feeling multiplied by a trillion times onto Christ's heart when we choose to ignore His gentle voice and dwell in self-pity, even when He speaks to us very clearly, whether it's through His Word or through other bros/sisters or thru life experiences... when we choose to speak faithless words, even though we know that speaking like even God can't help us is a big insult to an omnipotent God.
3. "By faith the prostitute Rahab, because she welcomed the spies, was not killed with those who were disobedient."
Thought about this... personally, a lot of times, i really feel so bad in terms of character and attitudes, that i dun dare have faith in Him. But think He gently corrected me, telling me that nobody is too sinful in His eyes to have faith in Him. Wow! :D we serve a wonderful Saviour! :D
4. "God had planned something better for us so that only together with us would they be made perfect."
You know, that word "us" really struck me. All along I've read this verse, and somehow it didn't really speak to me until now, when I realised that He has already planned something better for YOU AND ME. Yup, this applies to YOU AND ME. Somehow it's very heartening to know that He has planned something better for us... whatever it is, it's sure going to be wonderful... all part of God's ultimate plan to save and redeem humanity! :D
