Some Thoughts

Dear Diary,

Today is Saturday. Yup… quite a slack time at work. In fact, although I had quite fantastic sales at my dispensary… I was still bored. My pharmacy assistant chatted with me as usual. I love to hear all the feedbacks from him regarding the various locum pharmacists, haha… I hope he has been giving me unbiased observations though, hee… Anyway, he told me about a conversation between him and a locum pharmacist. The hypothetical question is which one will have salvation: a Christian who does evil deeds or a non-Christian who does good deeds and charity? He gave her his answer and she was visibly puzzled although they both shared the same Christian faith albeit an evangelical Christian and a Roman Catholic Christian respectively.

I will not attempt to answer that question directly because that is a hypothetical question which does not address the final condition of the person before death. One thing for sure is that we cannot attain salvation through our own merits. No matter how much good works we do, they do not erase the sins we commit. The sins can only be remitted and forgiven through a sacrifice with a suffrage offered in its place. This ideology surprisingly seems to be universally accepted in the various religions like Judaism and even many Eastern religions. Yet, the blood of sheep and goats and animals cannot sufficiently be a complete sacrifice. Hence, the Christian religion talks about the unblemished lamb of God who is the very God Himself who came down to be offered as an eternal perpetual sacrifice for the world before, the world present and the world to come. Only through trusting and having faith in God’s grace, can we have an opportunity to partake in the redemption process and plan.

The letter by the apostle Saint James clearly states the need to have a living faith that manifests in the form of good works because a person is justified by what he does (James 2:24). A faith without good deeds is unreal, hollow and obviously dead. Thankfully, with the love of God, we can come to God because our sins are forgiven if we repent and acknowledge the sacrifice in Jesus Christ given to us on Calvary 2000 years ago.

Sadly, the Christian gospel taught by many church groups seems distorted and warped. There was one customer who came by today and spoke about the direct proportionality of holiness and material wealth of a Christian individual. This form of teaching, derogatorily known as the “Prosperity Gospel”, is a hindrance to many in coming to the Christian faith. Have they forgotten that God judges a person differently from the world? It is the heart and not the outward appearance that truly justifies the person (Luke 16:15).

While I don’t know the reason and will not pretend to know the reason why the world is wretched as it is (okay, other than the Adam’s original sin), I am sure that God is fully in control. As I walked out of my pharmacy today for dinner, I saw a middle-aged man squatting at a secluded corner in tattered clothes and carrying a huge nylon bag (presumably containing all his possessions). Sigh… there are some who are filthily rich while others live hand-to-mouth. Not blessed by God because they are not “holy”? How absurd to even have that thought! In fact, Jesus Christ had compassion on the poor and even passed judgement on those who discriminate the poor. Jesus Christ practically affiliated himself to the poor when he spoke about the parable on the sheep and the goats (Luke 25: 34 – 46).

Coincidentally, I ate a vegetarian dinner tonight. When I was eating some “mock meat” made of soy products, it seems to dawn upon me on whether I am living my faith just as superficially as that “mock meat” which looked like the real meat but wasn’t. I am just as guilty in setting up my plans and then asking God to bless them. Maybe I should do the opposite way by seeking His plan for me and doing it. After all, in our human perception… what we pursue may not be the best or the right one for us… be it a wife, a family, a career, wealth, possessions… Don’t we remember the good old story from the Acts of the Apostles that highlights we may not usually know what is best for us?

In that scenario, the paraleptic (congenital) beggar was begging for money. He would have been very happy if he got some money but Saint Peter said, “Silver and gold I do not have, but what I have I give you. In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, walk.” Miraculously, the beggar was healed and he was jumping around praising God. He would have been satisfied with some money to get on with life but God healed him… something which he did not even expect in his wildest dreams.

If you are not rich (richness need not be materially), not beautiful (we are all made in the image of God, so I don’t think we are not beautiful) and a whole load unfortunate complaints because you are one pessimistic person…. Take comfort that you are still a very precious person in God’s sight. A God who is the ruler of the universe! I am sure you will already be very happy to be an apple of your teacher’s or your boss’s eyes, yeah? What more… the God of the universe! ;-)

Okay, just a verbal diarrhoea after some thoughts. This is just my personal view and my personal writing… not representative of any institution or sources whatsoever. Have a nice Sunday tomorrow! =)

God Bless,

Andrew