Wake Up!

During the New Year's Eve service, Pastor Brian concluded his message by saying, "Let's fight the good fight and run the good race." And it was clear to see that the message was soaked with the theme of perseverance - running the race and fighting the fight no matter how tough it gets along the way. As Christians we are called, by the grace of God, to fight against our worldly desires (although when the peace from God enters our hearts, we are able to take the pleasures of the world in a different form - the way it was meant to be), and to follow after Christ genuinely and wholeheartedly. However, I truly believe simply fighting temptations and doing good deeds isn't what God wishes Christianity to be, nor did Pastor Brian in his message. Christianity is definitely deeper than this.

Fighting temptations through prayer and meditation is a great thing to practice, as it is a crucial component to continually consecrating ourselves for the Lord. However, I believe this is just "having a snack" compared to "having a meal" - waking ourselves up from our drunkenness continuously. It is also great to do good deeds, but I would question if all "good deeds" are actually good if we do not understand the meaning behind some of our actions? It is only when we choose to fight the fight of waking up from our drunkenness, that God will help us to become sober so that we may understand the reason for every little thing we do - not "just because Jesus said so". Once we begin to understand (continuous process) God's definition of love, humility, compassion, can we actually practice them genuinely and naturally where ever we are - not just at church or to people that know of us as being Christians. It is no longer a "show", but just our natural being. As CS Lewis states in Mere Christianity, "When a man is getting worse he understands his own badness less and less. A moderately bad man knows he is not very good: a thoroughly bad man thinks he is all right. You understand sleep when you are awake, not while you are sleeping. You can see mistakes in arithmetic when your mind is working properly: while you are making them you cannot see them. You can understand the nature of drunkenness when you are sober, not when you are drunk. Good people know about both good and evil: bad people do not know about either," we can understand that, as we draw nearer to God, we see more and more clearly the evil that is still left within us. As God shows more of Himself to us, we see more and more what we have not seen before. If this is true, epiphanies should be frequent and we should continuously be expanding our knowledge/purpose of this "life" until we are reunited with God. Unfortunately, we do not have the power to expand our sight to see what God sees with our strength- it is totally up to God (by grace) to allow us to see small bits and pieces of what lies in His dimension. However, I truly believes God wishes us to see what he sees - our character and our mindset just isn't ready to accept the truth.

"It is impossible for Him to show Himself to a man whose mind and character are in the wrong condition. Just as a sunlight, tough it has no favorites, cannot be reflected in a dusty mirror as clearly as clean one" - CS Lewis.

Our job to mature as Christians, then, lies on how desperate we are to be continually awakened by the Truth. This desperation should be reflected in our prayers and through our actions - reading the word, books, listening/singing to praise songs, and indulging ourselves in anything that may grow our perception of God.

I pray that our generation fights the good fight, not only to fight temptations and distractions caused by Satan, but also to desperately fight to become "sober" from our "drunkenness".

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Side notes from experience:

- The more and more I eat unproportionately and not healthy, the more it becomes easier to continue to eat without any portion control and the lack of care to eat healthy. However, when I switch to a healthier diet, I am awakened, and realize how important a balanced eating habit really is.

- It's extremely hard to commit to a workout plan and it becomes harder as I become comfortable not working out. However, as soon as I snap out of the laziness, I realize that being "comfortable" ruins my physically, mental, and spiritual discipline. Comfort can be a form of "drunkenness".