The Plumb line- Part2

Part 2

 For PART1please click here

If you walk into a book store today and you will find row upon row of books written by Management gurus spouting mantras of how to be at the top of the ladder, how to better yourself, how to look good in the eyes of the boss, how to get noticed, how not to hold yourself back but assert yourself and on and on and on. It’s all about winning, how not to be a failure etc, etc. The pressures to conform are very real. Many have shared of how they do all the hard work and the lazy but cunning guy shoots ahead because he has mastered the art of self promotion and assertion. Then one wonders whether walking the straight and narrow helps?  Have you felt this way?

I find it very helpful to get my bearings, to align my heart against the Plumb line of the Word of God. Why? I do this because I am utterly convinced that the only enduring, flawless, timeless and dependable wisdom is found in the Bible alone. It has stood the test of time. The Word of God perfect- It instructs me that God is sovereign in full knowledge of how my life will unfold. It also instructs me that this world and all that it offers is temporary and passing. So with this in mind I carry on my quiet meditation and pen my thoughts on the following passage below.

 ^{Phil 2:3-4} Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, ⁴ not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others.

Verse 3: Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. This is such an area of temptation. I need to keep a guard over my heart and motives knowing the heart is deceitful above all else.  Every now and then it’s good to take a pit stop and take stock of what is going on in the boiler room of the heart. If I don’t, busyness gets me or the “success” of what I am involved in can cloud/dull and even blind me to what’s going on, on the inside. Jesus was always interested in what goes on in our hearts. Everything will be tested by fire (1Cor3:12-15). So I would be wise to stop in my tracks every now and them and do a heart check up – allowing the Holy Spirit to shed His light, wash and clean me – which He does with much grace and love.

Selfish ambition- Doing things that promote self interest, self glory. Doing things that get me recognition,  for my glory, promotion and elevation in the eyes of men. Often this would involved putting others down, even subtly, ignoring others peoples gifts and talents so that only “I” get noticed. The object with which I conduct myself is that “I” increase and that “I” get glory . This is nothing but “I-dolatry”.

Vain conceit- The dictionary tells me the synonyms of conceit are, egoism, egotism, narcissism, vanity .  The dictionary tells me vanity is being inordinately proud of one's appearance, possessions, or achievements, given to ostentatious display, especially of one's beauty, worthless, senseless or futile. It is the very opposite of humility. It’s thinking that only I can do the job well. What is the fall out of this? We don’t train others to do our job. We think we are indispensible. We get very critical and condemning of other peoples efforts. We don’t delegate. We are unable to encourage and appreciate the baby steps others take to grow their gifts. It also shows a lack of humility to realize that all our gifts and talents are “Grace Gifts” that we don’t deserve in the first place. We owe it all to God and need to hold these things lightly.

V3b- Rather, in humility value others above yourselves – This gives me the antidote to the first half of the verse. How do I cure myself of this malady of selfish ambition? By  practising the very opposite.

Firstly, being humble- how does humility express itself? In this case – considering others better than yourself and not looking out tomy own interests. How does this work out?

Others better than your self- this will put the breaks on self exalting thought patterns that constantly assail our minds. It will nudge us to look for ways to appreciate others. It will nudge us to release others, give others a chance to use their gifts.

Verse4:  ⁴ not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others.

Look not only to your own interest but also the interest of others. This strikes a death blow to self ambition. When we put others betterment before our own – we cannot exalt ourselves. We can only do one or the others. If we all had this attitude – it would breed so much growth for everyone .(including yourself because someone else will be looking out to your interests well) It will breed an atmosphere of acceptance, grace and security. It will breed an atmosphere of encouragement and appreciation and an atmosphere of wanting to mentor others so that they progress and get on in their walk with God and all that God has called them to with no strings attached.

It will mean that sometimes we have to let go of our lofty ideals/standards for the sake of unity, for the sake of brotherhood and oneness in Spirit ( without compromising your principles). But when you look at the big picture, when you look from Eternity’s perspective it won’t seem that ideal at all.

Verse 5-11. Gives us the grand key and perspective to everything.  The way down is the way up. As you lower yourself to the point of nothingness, God comes bursting in and does the very thing you sought after but in a wrong way. Jesus was offered  power, and fame when tempted in the dessert. But he overcame selfish ambition and lowered himself to serve the interest of His Father in heaven thus serving us sinful men. The end result it not only glorious exaltation to the highest place but He has been given the highest Name – the name above every other. Satan would like to deceive us into thinking we need to do this for ourselves – how wrong!!! When we leave things in the hands of a sovereign God – He works out things for our best, ALWAYS. 

When life rattles me, this is one of the passages of scripture I take refuge in and find great solace, comfort and assurance. I leave you with these thoughts – may you know rest in knowing His way- aligning your heart to the plumb line of this scripture.

Navaz

Jan2012

The Plumb line- Part 1

Part 1

As the year began there was  the obvious talk of goal, resolutions etc .I found myself being drawn to two passages in the Bible, one of which I will mention today. This is the famous passage of Philippians Chapter 2.  I find that there is a constant competition from various quarters, fighting to get my attention, mind space, affections of the heart and my devotion. I find it of great value  to align my heart to the plumb line of scripture as my point of reference. I find it brings balance and peace.

As I have been meditating on this passage I found myself asking myself many questions and reminding myself of many truths I have heard being taught over the years. I found this of great value. So, what is it that I have been meditating upon?

Allow me to share some of my quiet thoughts with you.

Phil2:1-2. ¹ Therefore if you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from his love, if any common sharing in the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion, ² then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and of one mind.

Verse 1: “If you have any encouragement..” “If”??? This is obviously a rhetorical statement that does not an answer to justify it. If is stating the obvious – of course I have received encouragement. What one may ask?

·       “Any encouragement in Christ” – here is what I have received – my sins have been forgiven – past, present and future. I have a relationship with God where I can talk to him and He talks to me. My salvation is secure. My prayers are answered. Since I belong to him, He fills me with His Holy Spirit who empowers and energizes me to live a Godly life.

·       “Comfort from His love” – is that even a question that needs asking? Of course I Have been comforted knowing His faithful love will never leave me. His love is complete and unconditionally accepting. His love for me took Him to the cross. Yes I am comforted by His intense love for me that is unending and pure.

·       “If any fellowship with the Spirit” –Oh yes!!!The Holy Spirit unlocks the doors to untold mysteries, abilities thus tapping into the power of God in order  for me to live the Christian life: to conquer temptation and sin, to release the stranglehold of darkness of sickness and so much more.

·       Tenderness and Compassion –Paul is appealing to a minimum level of charity that ought to be in very Christian heart. Am I not capable of some measure of compassion and tenderness? If so, the following is something I can do.

Since I have been the recipient of the above it surmises that I am able to the following : to be like minded, having the same love, being one in Spirit and purpose. This is an action packed, loaded passage. I’d like to think about it phrase by phrase as I seek to align my heart to this plumb line of truth.

·       Like minded- Does this mean “uniformity”, becoming a clone? Does this mean there is no room for originality? By no means! Grace celebrates unity in diversity.

So what does it mean? Put in another way I think it means being of “one vision/intent”. It’s not pulling in different directions, in other words, having one goal, working together toward a common purpose. It’s a willingness to put aside the much exalted and celebrated individualism for a common good. It’s willing to compromise wisely, its willingness to let go, to give ground to another’s point of view or way of doing things.

·       One Spirit – Paul is really emphasizing this maybe because it was a very real issue for the Philippians. Is it not one today too? This means being united – not divided over issues i.e when a leader says something about being involved in a certain project/vision , we are quickly able to  align our minds, wills and heart to support the leader in that call, not getting all “super spiritual” and saying, ”I’ll have to pray about it”. A church or organization will make very little progress with that attitude in the ranks.This I think has more to do with whats going on inside my heart - my attitudes.

·       Purpose- the same as above but its attitude with the hands and feet. Am I running in a different direction or am I putting my weight behind that one purpose therefore being effective?

There is so much food for thought here. But I’d like to draw this part to a close quoting one of my favourite authors, Charles Swindoll.

The longer I live, the more I realize the impact of attitude on life.
Attitude, to me, is more important than facts. It is more important than the past, than education, than money, than circumstances, than failures, than successes, than what other people think or say or do. It is more important than appearance, giftedness or skill. It will make or break a company... a church... a home.
The remarkable thing is we have a choice every day regarding the attitude we will embrace for that day. We cannot change our past... we cannot change the fact that people will act in a certain way. We cannot change the inevitable. The only thing we can do is play on the one string we have, and that is our attitude... I am convinced that life is 10% what happens to me and 90% how I react to it.

I would like to play that one string well making sure it aligns itself and is in tune with the Word of God.
To be continued in PART2 CLICK HERE

Navaz.

Jan2012

WordOfGraceChurch: A Preamble for worship

WordOfGraceChurch: A Preamble for worship: During our time in Mumbai with the family over the Christmas break, I made a wonderful discovery as I was rummaging through my old boxes of...

Think and Thank

The New Year has a tradition of reflection, resolutions, new resolve and renewal of flagging resolutions of the past. We’ve all been there, done that!

At our church and personally, we have not been exceptions to this – we like to take stock of the year gone by and cast vision for the one that is just upon us.

This year we attended the midnight service at our home church, Living Word Chruch, Bandra , Mumbai. We spent the last few hours of the old year worshipping and thanking God for all that transpired in the year gone by.

Then the young dynamic preacher, Sydney Nevis stood up to give his last exhortation for the year. His motif  phrase was :"Think and Thank!” ( I owe this title to him). I thought to myself – “brilliant”! We have done this exercise over the years of writing a list of 10 things to thank God for in the year gone by – but his catch phrase, did catch my attention. I thought to myself how true it is that often thanklessness comes out of thoughtlessness. Because we don’t stop to think – think about how much we are blessed- we fail to thank.

The Bible is full of commands about giving thanks. The Bible is also full of warnings of not giving thanks. We are commanded to “  Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is Gods will for you in Christ.” (1Thes 5:16-18). 

 What does this do for us? We stop focusing on ourselves. We stop worrying. We see a sovereign God who is always in charge and in control. We see a way out through prayer and supplication.

 

Amongst the things we were asked to reflect, think and thank, was thanking our family members who are often last on the list simply because we selfishly take them for granted. So we got up from our seats and went to family members present to thank them for various things and what they mean to us. A wonderful atmosphere of family and gratitude filled the air and we brought the new year in.

 

So what can I think and thank God for? A lot of it has already been mentioned in our family newsletter  ( CLICK HERE)which you  can read for yourself.

 

However I want to thank God for family and faithful friends.

•  I am thankful for Colin, my husband ,for being my best friend, for being this unique person who has brought much joy in my life. Our journey together has been a great adventure!
• I am thankful for Andrew, my first born, who is a loving, cheerful gifted soul.
• I am thankful for Jessica, who fills our heart with delight. She is caring, generous and thoughtful besides being a little too clever for her age!!

 

•  I am ever grateful to my parents : My dad who was a  principled man full of wisdom and kindness . I want to thank my mum for her example extraordinaire – in being resolute, disciplined, planned, sacrificing, Godly and hospitable. ( and so much more...)
• I want to thank God for my brother, Hormus – who though 1000s of miles away keeps an eagle eye on his younger sis swooping down to lift us up when in need. What would we do without you? If it were not for his timely help – we may not have had Jessica with us today. ( but that is another story). Along with him I want to thank my wonderful sister in law – Bunny, who has been a great friend and completely supportive.

 

• I want to thank my father in law –Vincent, whom I called 'dad' much to his delight, for accepting me and being kind to me. I want to thank my mother in law, 'mum'- Helen: who has been more a friend than the  stereotyped wicked mother in law. She has given me a belly full of laughter on many an occasion with a unique wit and comedy. Her warmth and hospitality never made me feel an outsider.

 

• I want to thank all my sisters in law and brothers in law, Yvonne and Savio, Fiona and Aubrey, Marianne and Rohan for just being a warm loving accepting family – for many cherished memories. (this may all sound rosy – let me assure you we have had a share of arguments and misunderstanding like every normal  family would)
• I am thankful for the nephew and nieces: Joshua,Rachel and Sara for being good cousins to our children.
•  I want to thank my friends – through childhood, the teens and adulthood. Thank you to those of you who have stood by us and encouraged us and believed in us. Thank you for your prayers, your words of encouragement, your love, your phone calls, and e mails.

 

• Last but not the least, I am thankful to Jesus our Saviour from whom all the above blessings flow. He is the author of my life and with His hand upon me , my life would be wasted. I am thankful for His countless blessings.

 

So as I think and allow thankfulness to well up within me I want to end by quoting Matt Redman’s wonderful song titled "10,000 Reasons".

 

 Chorus:

Bless the lord oh my soul

Oh my soul

Worship his holy name

Sing like never before

Oh my soul

 Worship you holy name

  

 Verse1
The sun comes up

It’s a new day dawning

It’s time to sing your song again

Whatever may pass and whatever lies before me

Let me be singing when the evening comes

 Verse 2
You're rich in love and you're slow to anger

Your name is great and your heart is kind

For all your goodness i will keep on singing

10,000 reasons for my heart to find

Verse 3
And on that day when my strength is failing

The end draws near and my time has come

Soon my soul sings your praise un-ending

10,000 years and there forever more

Navaz

Jan2012

2011- The year that was!

Hello everyone!
Warm greetings to each one of you. It’s that time of the year when one spends time reflecting and looking back - hopefully with a heart full of gratitude and thanksgiving. We are overflowing with thanks to God our Father for His countless blessings that he keeps pouring into our laps. We are ever aware of His mercies being new every morning and His faithfulness that is beyond measure. It makes our hearts  full of praise and worship for this fantastic God we serve who is good and upright in all that He does. Praise be to Him forever and ever!

The year 2011 has been a year of being stretched on every front. Lets begin with the family.

FAMILY NEWS:

 ANDREW:This year has been a biggie for us as Andrew was in his final year at school and appearing fro his ICSE (year 10) examinations. I think it was a huge growth phase for him, in trusting God, exercising faith and pressing on. He did well in his exams and we are proud of him. The next hurdle was getting admission to the right college. The way the Lord led us was most amazing to say the least! Torn between two very good colleges, both of which we were confident of getting admitted  into, we did not want to face the burden of choice. And God spared us  just that  by delaying the Admission list of one ( the one which ought to have come out first) and by bringing forward the  list  of the other college which should have come out after the other! It always amazes me how He makes our paths straight! Not only that - God provided for us to pay the premium fees when we were greatly lacking at that point in time.
Andrew is enjoying his college, continues to grow and is now standing 6.3 feet tall!! He enjoys playing his drums at church, college and other Christian events.

Our JESSICA is 10 years old  this year - somewhat a watershed in her life as she will never be in single digits again! She continues to excel in her studies, music and art. She won the English elocution competition in school, got the first place for the 100mt sprint and the 1st place in her class in  the Computer Olympiad at school. She is making good progress on the keyboard and is adept at handling the DLP and laptop during worship at Church. Both children bring much joy to our hearts and we are grateful for all the talents God has blessed them with.

We, completed 20 years of life together on the 22nd of December. God has been more than kind to us. We have had a wonderful journey together serving the Lord for 17 years of our married life. In these years God has worked things out only for our good. His good and mercy have always surrounded us. We have learnt and are still learning to walk by faith and not by sight. We are learning that His ways are not our ways - he measures success by a yardstick of faithfulness and not how the world see it ( sometimes even the Christian world). We are learning and continue to learn that Christ is the only unshakeable rock- everything else is passing and shakeable. We look forward to spending many more years together and in His Majesty’s service.
Both of us have been using our gifts more widely. I (Colin) have been involved in training and teaching the Word in different churches.

Navaz has been using her gift of writing to write and Blog : www.somequietthoughts.blogspot.com.
 She has also stepped out in song witting. You can listen to them on Youtube: www.youtube.com/user/navazd/videos. These are amateur steps but as we are faithful in little we believe God will give us more.

THE CHURCH
What can we say? Except that Jesus is building HIS church and the gates of hell will not prevail against it. June 2012 will mark 10 years of us coming to Pune and starting Word of Grace. We came alone - just us and two small children. We laboured hard and long and battled for the first fruits for 7 years!! We had to face the fact that Pune being a transient city with very high mobility - we were working in a challenging situation of a turn over of over 30% every year. So we would pour ourselves into people, train them, raise them up only to find them up and leave some times in as short a time as 6 months! In the last two months,we lost two of our key men( Vinoth and Mnason) who were with us for a little over 2 years. Having trained them to take much responsibility in the church it was heart wrenching to see them  both go in a span of a month due to job transfers. This challenge is ever before us. So in these years we have given away a least half a dozen trained men! And we start all over.

But that is not what we want to focus on. We believe the tide has indeed turned and this year we have seen great growth on many fronts.  So what are these areas of growth?

• We have seen the Lord add to our numbers . We started this year with about 40-50 people and are closing this year with 90! God has been good. We are in faith for us to cross 150 soon. Many are hearing the gospel for the first time. Others who come from traditional Christian backgrounds find themselves confronted with the grace of God which they find irresistible, refreshing and liberating. 

• This year we started a  training program called InDepth Discipleship  which was  held every month . We had trainers come from different parts of India. An average of 17 people have been on this training this year and have greatly benefited from it.
• 
  
• This is the first year we have been able to have “Life Groups” in more than one location. Through it an average of 40 people have been able to connect with each other through the week.

• Finance -  the church has grown in giving. We want to thank God for sustaining us  over these 10 years where we have been self supporting for the last 7 years despite our small numbers. This year we got a fantastic Gift Day Offering that was taken toward development of Word of Grace and giving toward other Church plants and works among the poor.

• We have grown a good worship band where worship is the focus and not performance. A new worship leader in Joyce has been raised up. Navaz has felt released to write many worship songs and they have been sung and well received by the congregation. 

• Sunday school - is slowly beginning to take shape. While having teachers is still a challenge the children are enjoying it and are being impacted. We see this as a very important segment of the church and need to give to better attention.

• Serving -  We still recall the days when the serving team comprised of myself, Navaz and Andrew while Jessica sat in her stroller! Today we have a whole group of young men and women willing and serving. We thank God for each of them.

• Trainee - This is the first year we have a young man, Austine, train with the church. He is a part time trainee who helps out with the administration and is being mentored by Colin. His growth over this year has been evident to all.

• Spiritual Gifts -  We are beginning to see people exercise the gifts of the Spirit by bringing prophetic words, pictures and praying for healing.

• Answered Prayer -  We have begun to realize a special grace anointing upon us as we pray together. We have seen barren wombs opened, finance released, jobs obtained, houses purchased and changes in the city as we have prayed together.

•  Leadership - This year we have had 4 people ( Vinoth, Manson, Sunny and Joyce) consistently lead the devotions, breaking for bread, administer the Offering apart from myself. They have been able to handle the Sunday meeting in my absence ( while I have been away on Trainings etc). This has been a significant area of growth as it released me to bless the wider body of Christ and has been of great value to themselves. ( However, this has now been greatly affected with Vinoth and Manson having moved to Bangalore).

• Blog and media- We have started a church blog called http://wordofgracechurch.blogspot.com/ which has been widely read and is having an influence beyond the local church. Both Navaz and I have been given an opportunity to write for a Christian magazine on a regular basis. We feel this is a God given opportunity to influence the expression of Christianity through the articles we write.

There are many more things we can give thanks to God for - that would need me to write a book !:)

BUSINESS

As you know , we are involved in tent making ventures to sustain our stay in Pune. ( We do get a salary from the church but that is not sufficient to keep up with  inflation and  ever rising cost of living). Our heart has been one of never wanting to be a burden on the church, rather, to bless her in every way possible. Over the last 9 years of doing business we have found ourselves walking on water most months. We can only speak of God’s grace and provision to us as a family each month. The recession in the West has taken its toll on out business. Our Greeting Card venture is now producing and selling only 25% of what it used to. The result is where we gave employment to 5 people we now employ on 2 people for only 3 months in the year. While we have seen God’s ever faithful provision, we have not been able to sustain employment for these poor people.

Our Printing ventures have also face many challenges with freight and paper costs going up and printing costs in the UK falling. We are grateful to those of you who still continue to print with us. We would like to remind you that each time you print with us you help us stay financially afloat, and self sufficient without being ( like the apostle Paul has also said) a burden on the local church. 

As we have taken a hit in both these businesses, I have been forced to look at other avenues to generate income for my family. God has been good to us and other avenues are opening up but it means a lot of time away from the church and family and this too in a critical time of church growth. So we want to tread with wisdom and caution as we do not want to be distracted from our main objective, which is the church. We would appreciate prayers for this.

YEAR 2012

We look forward to the new year with much  anticipation for greater things and  want  to take leaps of faith like never before knowing God is on our side. We have also been sensing  for a long while that this is a season and time for drawing closer to the throne room of Jesus - into His presence in worship and prayer - that is where all the battles are fought and victories won. As we do this we know that God will add strength to us . We want to be faithful in continuing to make disciples, while we leave the building fo the Church to Jesus.

We pray ever blessing upon you and your family, and your work.

“ To him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you before his glorious presence without fault and with great joy- to the only God our Savior be glory, majesty, power and authority, through Jesus Christ our Lord, before all ages, now and forevermore! Amen.”(Jude 24-25)


Colin and Navaz
Dec 2011

You live only once – Zindagi na melegi dobara

For my overseas friends reading this, the second half is the Hindi equivalent which when literally translated means “You don’t get to live twice”. So true! ( and yet it is a strange title in many ways for a land that believes in a cycle of death and rebirth!)

 However, that is not what not my mind is right now. I watched this new bollywood movie (that bears the above title). At first I was happy and then sad and shocked at various levels. It is a well known fact that the youth take a lot of cues from the film stars, the movie themes, and lifestyles portrayed. Whether Bollywood sets the trend or merely reflects what’s already going around is a debateable matter. But, that is not what not what is on my mind is either.

What is it that made me happy?

The movie got it right - you have one life to live! The movie is about three best mates going on a holiday before one of them gets married. So it’s a bachelor party/holiday of sorts. Two are very successful yuppie businessmen. One in particular made work, ambition,and the acquiring of wealth his focus. This had repercussions on his social life and relationships. The movie goes on to show how this holiday helped him reflect and realize that money is not everything. There is more to life – and I couldn't agree more – but more of that later. There is a message here especially for the urban yuppy “wanna get rich quick” youth of today. Life is more than your work. It’s not an uncommon sight to see people in their twenties working 10-12 hours a day and sometimes even 7 days a week. They are being slave driven to the ground where they are not able to think beyond projects and deadlines. Their mind space has been totally occupied, their senses dulled. This is an unhealthy trend and we see it taking a toll on the recently married, young families etc. There is more to life than work. The Bible says in Luke 12:15 Then he said to them, “Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; life does not consist in an abundance of possessions.”

What made me sad?

 I was shocked to see a blatant challenge to marriage in an open and almost approving display of “live in relationships”, “short flings” and sleeping around. It came across as this kind of life style is a given – nothing to be bashful about or ashamed of. I thought to myself – have we as a nation fallen so far? Some may mock me and say I am not keeping up with the times or that this has been happening for a long time it’s only coming out in the open. No I am not old fashioned and no I am not unaware of the happenings around me. What I am sad about is that this life style is getting legitimized through the media. Thirty years ago an affair between the movie stars was hushed up and the media warned not to come anywhere near it. Today it is being blatantly flaunted in the press and the movies.

This brings me to what I have been reflecting upon –

The absolute standard as given and instituted by God for our well being –  holy matrimony. This was God’s idea right from the beginning and He knew that if we kept this one command i.e “you shall not commit adultery” – all would go well in the family and society at large. Today in my city alone there are over 300 divorced filed every month. The west has its own tale to tell and the tell tale signs of that life style is showing up in different kinds of social problems and breakdown. As a famous sociologist and historian Carl Zimmerman, in his 1947 book Family and Civilization, recorded his keen observations as he compared the disintegration of various cultures with the parallel decline of family life in those cultures. Eight specific patterns of domestic behaviour typified the downward spiral of each culture Zimmerman studied. 

* Marriage loses its sacredness; is frequently broken by divorce. 
* Traditional meaning of the marriage ceremony is lost. 
* Feminist movements abound. 
* Increased public disrespect for parents and authority in general. 
* Acceleration of juvenile delinquency, promiscuity, and rebellion. 
* Refusal of people with traditional marriages to accept family responsibilities. 
* Growing desire for and acceptance of adultery. 
* Increasing interest in and spread of sexual perversions and sex-related crimes.

Is this where India wants to be heading? God forbid! We can turn this terrible tide by teaching our kids the right values and modelling it.  I know I need to mix it with faith and prayer and ask the Lord to keep my children from evil and temptation. I need to talk the values with them and walk the talk thus modelling it for them. If our kids get it, we have a hope for a better future.

The other thing I was reflecting upon was : What is life all about?Is life about a better job, better education , better home, better car, better holidays, better this , better that? None of these things are bad in themselves – it’s how we use them – do we control these things or do they control us? Have they become idols in our lives? What is the purpose for which we are on this earth? The question has eternal implications. If life is all about “eat, drink, and be merry for tomorrow we die” then we ought to live it up. But if it is where each one will have to give an account for their lives and we will be judged according to what we have done; where there are rewards to be obtained or lost because of what I did with the 3 score and ten years here on earth – ah! that puts a totally different complexion on things, doesn’t it? 

  While the movie got one part right , about the fact that we live only once, its interpretation of how we ought to live this life needs a serious reflecting upon. And the best way to reflect is to look into the mirror if God's word , the Bible.The movie  had a very existential note to it - live in the now, indulge yourself today because you don’t know if there is a tomorrow. How wrong!! There is not just a tomorrow but an Eternity to face ( whether you believe it or not) and a King on His judgement seat to whom we will all give an account. Death is indeed a leveler and it is final.

How then should I live? One of the principles from the Bible that has helped me in the choices I have made this far is and I quote is “But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well” Matt 6:33. I am more and more convinced that God is not a kill joy and He who created the heavens and the earth knows what’s best for me. When I put God in the centre of my life  everything falls into its right place and gets the right priority AND I am blessed.

As a Christian I have been saved and chosen at great cost to Jesus – I have been chosen for a purpose – to bring glory to His name by how I live here on earth. It’s not about me- it’s about Him. It has always been – right from creation.  As a Christian is my life centred on Jesus, His Kingdom, His glory, His fame? Or am I living with a “bless me God; make my life more comfortable, more easier, bless my gifts, my talents ....”

I have one life to live: I get only one shot at it and the years are zipping by faster than I can cope. I am already at the half way mark. I want to live to the glory of God. I don’t want to be short sighted. and live for a few fleeting pleasures of this world. I want to build with silver and gold and costly stones that will stand the test of fire. I want to blaze bright for Jesus. Pleasing him in all that I do is my highest aim. I want to give my life to something that will last forever! Reflecting on these things this is my prayer. So help me God!

Navaz D Cruz

Nov 2011.