Conviction

Ooo today was such a nice day! I slept in as much as I could until Anna rang me for help since one of her car tyres went flat and she was on the Monash freeway somewhere between the Warrigal and High St exits. So jumped out of bed and asked if Korean Lee wanted to come along and he agreed.

Anyway, took a while to get down there, I chose the Burke Rd route which is probably not advisable on a Saturday morning. Wasn't bumper to bumper as such, but definitely would've been other better routes to take. So got there, changed the tyres (I think God blessed me by giving me experience with Aileen's flat tyre at Vic's 21st) and was on the way home but Korean Lee asked about the general consensus on Toorak being the "richest" suburb in Melbourne. I decided to drive him through the leafy suburb and boy, there are some real stunners there. Found my way to the famed St Georges Rd and he was certainly impressed. Lee asked me if I would live in Toorak one day - to which I laughed and said diplomatically, "Well, maybe." (Or maybe that was the phlegmatic in me!) I then explained that while it'd be nice, I don't know if I could even dream of affording a house there one day, but more importantly, even if I did have the money, would I indulge and spend it all like that? I reasoned that it might be okay if it was for my family, but then again I'm pretty sure a house in Toorak is a little excessive and classifies as "worldy riches" as per Proverbs 23:5. I thought about Christians who'd perhaps had their cake and eaten it too but I quickly remembered that no one's perfect.

I think that's one massive misconception about Christians in general. How we're perceived to be perfect. It's sad how some people pigeon-hole Christians, that if they make a mistake they've lost - like non-Christians are any more perfect? Making a mistake as a Christian doesn't invalidate our beliefs. But it's what we do after we've realised we've made a mistake which is important. We're not better simply because we try to be honest and not swear. God is better. In any religion, god is a higher being, we just believe in Him.

It's a double standard sometimes; people bristle when questioned about their non-belief which is a belief itself, yet scorn Christians for their beliefs. I'm comfortable with people having different beliefs than me, a lot of my friends are non-Christian. Yes, it'd be nice if they were Christian but them not believing doesn't mean I can't be friends with them. I expect it to be reciprocal, I love my friends for not judging me just because I'm Christian.

I think it's also hard coming from an indifferent past to have the courage to declare your faith. There are always going to be detractors from the past, strangely immune to any of their own shortcomings, ready to remind you where you once fell. It's also interesting to see that sometimes it's not the person you have wronged, who has some right, that holds it against you, but rather busy-bodies who have some sort of "holier-than-thou" complex which somehow gives them the 'courage' to hide behind a screen name and throw cheap jibes. Like God turned something bad in King David's illegitimate relationship with Bathsheba into something good in the lineage to which Jesus was born, I believe He turned guilt that could've devoured me into a life I am thankful for everyday. And nothing or no one can change that fact no matter what they do or say.

Ho hum, it's past midnight. I realise that this might be a bit intense for your liking but hey, this is what's important to me. Just as much, or if not more, than something like basketball or nachos are to you. You have your convictions. I have mine.