Happy Good Friday everyone.
Went for Good Friday service today. Realised I haven't been for service in a long long time due to school stuff. Anyway, as I was sitting there listening to pastor, I was at the same time, reflecting on the events of this very day a long long long time ago. I appreciate what Jesus did for me on the cross and I love Him for that. I once heard that when you really really love somebody, you would die for him/her. In this case, it isn't just for any individual, but for the whole world, that someone so pure and sinless had to give up His life for our sakes. Life is unfair. If it was fair, we would have been the ones on that cross and paying for our own sins and guilt. But this speaks of the depth of love that God has for all of us that He sent His own Son to pay for our sins. I remember watching Lord of the Rings and in this particular scene where Theoden was standing outside his son's tomb, he made this comment:
"No parent ever has to bury his child"
In this case, God not only 'buried' His Son, but He sent His own Son to die for people who repeatedly defy Him and hurt Him, but He still did what He did nevertheless. What amazing and divine love that He has for us. I admit that I have done and said things that I'm not proud of, but God not only forgives me time and again, but He paid the ultimate price for my salvation. Makes me want to just hide my head in shame. But Jesus died publicly for us and so we have to go back to Him publicly too. Anyway, it's impossible to hide from God. I came across this card once:
I once asked Jesus how much He loved me and He said " My child, I love you this much." and He spread His hands and died.
Christianity isn't a religion. A religion is where people go to temples or mosques etc. to search for God. Christianity is a relationship where God sent His Son to search for us. Unbelievers sometimes challenge the Christian faith whereby they stick to their beliefs of unbelief. Some even treat Christianity as a cult where believers force non-believers to come to church etc. I have chatted with this guy once who felt this way. I told him that no one can force anyone to believe in something they already do not believe in. God gave all of us the freedom to choose. He didn't force us to believe in Him. All He did was to pay the ultimate price for our sins and we were free to choose whether or not we want to honor that. Everytime I read about people dying for their religion, I'm awed by the extent of their faith. I think many would know of the Columbine High School massacre. There was a particular Cassie Bernall who was believed to have had an exchange with one of the shooters:
Shooter: Do you believe in God?
Cassie: Yes.
And the shooter shot and killed her.
There was another exchange between Rachel Scott and one of the shooters who shot her in the leg first:
Shooter: Do you believe in God?
Rachel: You know I do.
And he shot her in the temple, thus killing her.
People die because they believe in God. There was also this story that I've heard a few times and I'm gonna give you the condensed version:
One Sunday in a small town, the congregation of a church began settling down to start their Sunday services. Suddenly three masked men armed with guns stormed into the church and ordered all those who believed in God to remain where they were seated and those who didn't to leave the church. After part of the congregation left, the gunmen shut the church doors and removed their masks and told the remaining few that it was just a test to see how much people really loved God and whether they were prepared to die for Him. Then the remaining congregation and the three 'gunmen' sat down and began to worship God.
All these people's love for their Savior far outweighed their fear of men or even of death. I believe they understood the meaning of these words "to live is Christ and to die is gain" and "to be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord". I don't know whether I'm prepared to do the same if something like that ever happens. I hope I'm able to do so. I hope my faith is strong enough to believe that even if I die today, I'm going to be with God in heaven. But right now, I hope that what ever little I have, I'll be able to give it up to Him instead of withholding it from God because God did not withhold anything back from us when He sent His Son to die. As I was about to leave church today, Kim called me and asked me to go back up to the sanctuary where I was asked whether I could play bass for Sunday service. My initial reaction was surprise. This is going to be my first time playing and I was abit scared too. But now as I think of it, God gave me a talent to play both the guitar and the bass guitar and the most I can do to repay that is to play wholeheartedly for Him instead of feeling scared that I would embarrass myself. Before Jesus died, He was publicly humiliated. Embarrassing myself in front of the congregation is nothing compared to that.
With these thoughts, I shall sign off now and have a meaningful Good Friday everyone!