#169 Three generations (27dec07)

'…thus saith the Lord God of Israel; Cursed be the man that obeyeth not the words of this covenant, Which I commanded your fathers in the day that I brought them forth out of the land of Egypt, from the iron furnace, saying, Obey My voice, and do them, according to all which I command you; so shall ye be My people, and I will be your God..'
Jeremiah 11:3-4

The founding father built a great empire from scratch, his son or sons maintain it at best, and his grandchildren eventually lose most of it. Is this stigmatization of the 3rd generation as wastrels a mere myth or there is a historical basis for such motherhood statements??

'For according to the number of thy cities were thy gods….even altars to burn incense unto Baal'
Jeremiah 11:13

Just like the monliths of Easter Island, hugh idols carved out of stone, bronze, wood or of varied materials and shape, are a thing of the past, seen more in the museums or revered places of worship of various fatihs. It is not that modern society, which is increasingly secular has no place for idols in their lives, but rather, their 'gods' have taken on new forms, and are manifested in other ways. It was just reported in the news that the present Pope in his Christmas message decried the selfishness of modern society. Much as the intellect secular man might choose to disagree, the 'godless' man that he is has a 'god' which he worships, 'himself or herself.'

'Woe unto him that saith to the wood, Awake; to the dumb stone, Arise, it shall teach! Behold, it is laid over with gold and silver, and there is no breath at all in the midst of it….'
Habakkuk 2:19

The separation of ownership and management was supposed to be the panacea to breaking the curse of the 3 generational cycle. Like all great ideas from men, it did work for a while, but the modern men might be innovative and contemporary in his thoughts, but the age old sinfulness of men, be it greed, lust, pride or other devilish inclinations have never left the unrepentant. Today's troubles in the financial system is not a new phenomenon, but rather, a more intense manifestation of the sweeping changes in the bedrock of God inspired values(for the early work ethics of the Western world were Christian based), to be replaced by the men's desires of the world, be it greed, pride, selfishness, lusts.

'And in the morning, rising up a great while before day, He went out, and departed into a solitary place, and there prayed'
Mark 1:35

Vacation with the family is always a great time for bonding. However, a place to spend time with the Lord our God can be quite a challenge, when the wee hours of the morning, entails that only the bathroom is where the light can be on, without disrupting the beauty sleep of everyone else. It is the heart and not the hearth that the Lord looks at and in my quiet time in His presence, He placed this thought into my mind.

Why are the beautiful churches of the once fervent European bastions of Christianity now bereft of worshippers and its sanctity subjected to the myriad hordes of camera clicking tourists?

'…Is there a God beside Me? Yea, there is no God; I know not any'
They that make a graven image are all of them vanity……'
Isaiah 44:8-10

If pilgrimage is defined by one having traversed the land where one's faith had a long and great history, and having taken in the sights of the monuments of one's faith, than surely, anyone who has gone on a trip to Italy should have returned with a halo over their head.
Strangely not, my sense of spirituality did not feel greatly enhanced, there was not even a whimper of a slight uplifting of my heart, in fact, my heart tended to reflect more the emptiness of the hollowed out but still beautiful churches of increasingly secular Europe.

'An inheritance may be gotten hastily at the beginning; but the end thereof shall not be blessed'
Proverbs 20:21

Even a cursory revisit of the history of the Christian faith would have surfaced a long and eventful tapestry of how the faith of Christians were tested and tried(not counting those who were marytred at the burning stakes or end up as lunch for the lions) and how the Lord our God has blessed the many faithful. Just as the great Ming Empire decidedly rather unwisely to look inward, for anything outside of China, the professed centre of wth world was considered barbaric, the Western world was coming out of the Middle ages and the spread of Christianity worked hand in hand with the expansion of trade and territorial conquests by the West.

Many of us in Singapore, Hong Kong and in the ex-colonies of the Western world are Christians today, because of the early and faithful work of the missionaries that God placed in the paths of our ancestors. But does this justifiy the often off centre machinations and wiles of the colonialists? God is perfect, but men is inperfect. Just like the first man, Adam, men by their disobedience, hinder and corrupts the goodness of God's plans.
But God is sovereign. He will make good out of the bad, but at His timing and in His way, not ours.

'The just man walketh in his integrity; his children are blessed after him'
Proverbs 20:7

The increasingly avowed secularists of the world, in their desire to promote the 'religion of secularism,' have often pounced upon the chequered history of religion inspired warfares as proof of the bane that religion can have on stirring the beasts in men, who without religion, have a natural propensity to be loving and peaceful.
But truly, with or without religion, men by nature is sinful and history is replete with examples of incessant warfare and evil amongst the pagans and in the modern epoch of human history, just alone amongst three great atheists, ie Stalin(in the gulag), Mao Tze Tung(his cultural revolution) and Adolf Hitler(the superior Aryan race), millions have died when men decided to play God.

'He heweth him down cedars…He burneth part therof in the fire…..He warmeth himself…. And the residue therof he maketh a god, even his graven image, he falleth down unto it, and worshippeth it, and prayeth unto it, and saith, Deliver me, for thou art my god'
Isaiah 44:14-17

Like many of you, as I looked upon my children, the thought that stays in my mind is "how can I imbue them with the same desire to walk in the commands of the Lord our God." Will my children or their children fall prey to the same generational slothfulness and sinfulness?

'Chasten thy son while there is hope, and let not thy soul spare for his crying'
Proverbs 19:18

Love is not about sinful indulgence. For sparing the rod spoils the child. But I am also reminded by the Lord our God that while we should not worry about tomorrow(and not counting a couple of generations ahead), for Hs grace is suffice for the day.
How we live, how we be still and know His will, how we walk with Him will not just be a testimony of His grace and love, but is imperative in ensuring that our children and their children will learn and live the God led path that we ourselves have committed to, by the exercise of our free will.

The buck does not stop with us, but rather, it must start with us, who are blessed to have the veil in our hearts lifted.
This should not be your New Year resolution for next year, even if next year is just a few days away. But rather, do prayerfully start today, to have that resolve to walk right with the Lord our God.

For Christianity is not a religion, much as some might think otherwise, but rather, it is a relationship with the Lord our God, through His beloved Son, Lord Jesus Christ.

Who are we, but mere imperfect and sinful mortals to keep the ever patient and loving perfect Sovereign God waiting?

'…the Lord put wisdom and understanding to know how to work all manner of work for the service of the sanctuary, according to all that the Lord had commanded'
Exodus 36:1

God Blesses

Eng Hieang