Headline
Posted by h0bb3s at 10:01 AM on January 11, 2006.
i don't think this made to the headline but it's worth mentioning...
last Monday morning, while walking on my way to the LRT, i happen to look at the headlines of some broadsheets. i don’t remember exactly if i have read words or have seen a picture, but this is what registered in my mind: "People are literally hurting themselves, just to touch that Black Nazarene." i went on with a sigh.
and then this morning i read that there were lots of injuries caused by the said festival, and that even someone died. one of them died by lack of oxygen in his brain, due to the crowd. the other one died after he was brought to the hospital, if i remember it right, due to a heart attack...
and this is the great news...
it didn't make the headline, when it should be...
lives are wasted out of devotion to a worthless wooden carved statue...
worthless, may seem harsh, but it is the truth. and I’m not taking it back.
the true GOD we should be pursuing does and will not live in a wooden stone. He lives in the temple of the Holy Spirit, our body...
there is a voice within us, it is still and small, but this is what it says, "your life is precious, if you really want to be devoted to me, then make a difference. don't just die because you are devoted to a tradition, and let people admire you and even follow you. if you have to die, die for me, have a death that will make a difference. do not waste the precious life i gave you. you are far more precious than just dying over a tradition. i am not there. i am in your heart, and i sure want to use your devotion into something for a greater cause. don't just die."
some may say, that it is the only connection they may have to GOD.
some would even claim they are healed.
some would even say that they feel honored and find their worth by having to get hurt by the crowd.
this is what the book says,
Deuteronomy 4
V12: Then the LORD spoke to you out of the fire. You heard the sound of words but saw no form; there was only a voice.
V15: You saw no form of any kind the day the LORD spoke to you at Horeb out of the fire. Therefore watch yourselves very carefully,
V16: so that you do not become corrupt and make for yourselves an idol, an image of any shape, whether formed like a man or a woman.
V23: Be careful not to forget the covenant of the LORD your God that he made with you; do not make for yourselves an idol in the form of anything the LORD your God has forbidden.
V24: For the LORD your God is a consuming fire, a jealous God.
The whole of chapter 4 mentioned these words frequently, “DO NOT MAKE YOURSLEVES AN IDOL.”
It’s as if once is not enough.
But the Lord knew, we can be that hard headed.
Those people who died, died for a !@$#@!* wrong reasons.
They died without knowing that Deuteronomy 4 is the voice of GOD.
They died knowing a GOD, they themselves have defined.
We do all have our idols. When we sin or make someone the center of our lives instead, we are idolatrous.
But this is one thing that is so obvious…
And until those who can hear the voice of GOD do something about, we’re going to lose a big part in transforming our nation.
Shall we wait for next year and see what happens?
the battle we have is not against the flesh, but with the unseen principalities and authorities roaming around us.
we cannot see, because we are not looking carefully...
we do not react, because we can hurt feelings...
last Monday morning, while walking on my way to the LRT, i happen to look at the headlines of some broadsheets. i don’t remember exactly if i have read words or have seen a picture, but this is what registered in my mind: "People are literally hurting themselves, just to touch that Black Nazarene." i went on with a sigh.
and then this morning i read that there were lots of injuries caused by the said festival, and that even someone died. one of them died by lack of oxygen in his brain, due to the crowd. the other one died after he was brought to the hospital, if i remember it right, due to a heart attack...
and this is the great news...
it didn't make the headline, when it should be...
lives are wasted out of devotion to a worthless wooden carved statue...
worthless, may seem harsh, but it is the truth. and I’m not taking it back.
the true GOD we should be pursuing does and will not live in a wooden stone. He lives in the temple of the Holy Spirit, our body...
there is a voice within us, it is still and small, but this is what it says, "your life is precious, if you really want to be devoted to me, then make a difference. don't just die because you are devoted to a tradition, and let people admire you and even follow you. if you have to die, die for me, have a death that will make a difference. do not waste the precious life i gave you. you are far more precious than just dying over a tradition. i am not there. i am in your heart, and i sure want to use your devotion into something for a greater cause. don't just die."
some may say, that it is the only connection they may have to GOD.
some would even claim they are healed.
some would even say that they feel honored and find their worth by having to get hurt by the crowd.
this is what the book says,
Deuteronomy 4
V12: Then the LORD spoke to you out of the fire. You heard the sound of words but saw no form; there was only a voice.
V15: You saw no form of any kind the day the LORD spoke to you at Horeb out of the fire. Therefore watch yourselves very carefully,
V16: so that you do not become corrupt and make for yourselves an idol, an image of any shape, whether formed like a man or a woman.
V23: Be careful not to forget the covenant of the LORD your God that he made with you; do not make for yourselves an idol in the form of anything the LORD your God has forbidden.
V24: For the LORD your God is a consuming fire, a jealous God.
The whole of chapter 4 mentioned these words frequently, “DO NOT MAKE YOURSLEVES AN IDOL.”
It’s as if once is not enough.
But the Lord knew, we can be that hard headed.
Those people who died, died for a !@$#@!* wrong reasons.
They died without knowing that Deuteronomy 4 is the voice of GOD.
They died knowing a GOD, they themselves have defined.
We do all have our idols. When we sin or make someone the center of our lives instead, we are idolatrous.
But this is one thing that is so obvious…
And until those who can hear the voice of GOD do something about, we’re going to lose a big part in transforming our nation.
Shall we wait for next year and see what happens?
the battle we have is not against the flesh, but with the unseen principalities and authorities roaming around us.
we cannot see, because we are not looking carefully...
we do not react, because we can hurt feelings...
we do not react, hell will be crowded, too.