I took a ride on Wednesday night 30th January with my partner-in-crime Mr. FXK.
It was a short trip we shared, from school to the intersection between Clementi Road and Commonwealth Ave. As we rode in sporadic silence and sudden exclamations of how amazing our ride has been, I had an epiphany.
The part which got me thinking was the long downhill from the the point below the covered bridge linking Engine and Arts, all the way down to the OED.
That downhill is not terribly steep but it is rather long stretch. Of course as most cyclist/runners will know, usually there has to be an arduous long uphill climb you would have to overcome in order to reach the a certain peak before enjoying the descend...
Actually, you do not even need to be either to know that. Isn't that common sense?
Alright that was not meant to be insulting to anybody who till then have not been able to see that , it was however, meant to lead on to the question: why would we know this little observation to be true?
My brain does not usually work very hard to search for an answer, but as I recall that event and the words of FXK, the story presented itself nicely and hopefully I would do enough justice with words.
The uphill climb was relatively easier for me than XK because simply, my bicycle was better. My wheels were larger and I had the luxury of changing gears for climbing. XK's foldable bicycle however had no gears and had donuts for wheels(just kidding). In order to overcome that slope he had to pedal hard and pedal non-stop. Consistency and effort was important as he summed it up: "I cannot afford to lose momentum."
Epiphany #1:
There is an answer to the question on why is the observation (when you want to come down, you must get up) generally common sense. This is because this idea somehow relates to our lives. We have this goal or place we would want to reach and then we overcome obstacles along the way to reach it. Most of the time we would think that after reaching this goal or achieving something, life or that part of the journey is going to get easier or smoother.
That sounded a lot like some silly generalization but hey we do relate pretty well to that illustration.
I have been sharing to friends about how amazing it is to wake up each morning and immerse myself in the presence of God, just seeking Him in the living Word each day. I do not think this comes easily but rather through the mercies of God and realising that only by constant communion with Him can we truly live a victorious Christian life, i.e the peak I have been looking for.
Once we lose momentum, we fall off the bicycle easily and that simply makes you look very uncool.
Then of course, next is the downhill part. Trust me on this, downhill is not the easy part after the uphill. XK was the first to go and that guy sped downhill with speed of about 70km/h (I realised later that he was so fast because of his 20KG bag that is placed in front of his handlebar.) So I let go and just sped down towards the turning traffic circle without brakes on.
AMAZING.
The speed. The wind. The exhilaration. If I had to find a reason why I am blogging down this seemingly mundane stuff, this had to be it! Which leads to...
Epiphany #2:
Once we are in the place where God wants us to be, when we heed that call to go up to the mountains and look over at the glory of His promised land. Once we get our feet wet and attempt to cross the Jordan river of our lives.
Once we do all that, God works.
When God works, all we need to do is to sit back and watch in amazing wonder how powerful God is. So powerful we do not even need to lift anything in our strength.
Many times in my service to God(or so call 'service'), I would end up exhausted and jaded. Now I realise that when we are in God's service, He really does put everything in place. All we need is to put ourselves in the place He wants us to be, which usually makes us extremely uncomfortable or torn.
OK. So why is this called positional santification?
This is a theological term that I have learnt and that means once we accepted the Lordship of Jesus Christ in our lives, we would be santified because of our position in Christ.
I write this because I have been deceived about this.
If we subscribe solely to the above(which is absolutely true), then we as humans will take the lazy way out and forget about progressive santification.
I just wanted to put across this new positional santification as being in a position where God wants you to be. Only then will He be able to work His progressive santification in us.
If you would allow me to take this further, perhaps why we as Christians do not grow in ways that God has promised, it is because we are in a position of compromise.
Let us leave the low lands and climb the mountain of our faith.
The climbing position requires one to stand up and pedal.
Stand up for the Truth, then keep pedalling.
It was a short trip we shared, from school to the intersection between Clementi Road and Commonwealth Ave. As we rode in sporadic silence and sudden exclamations of how amazing our ride has been, I had an epiphany.
The part which got me thinking was the long downhill from the the point below the covered bridge linking Engine and Arts, all the way down to the OED.
That downhill is not terribly steep but it is rather long stretch. Of course as most cyclist/runners will know, usually there has to be an arduous long uphill climb you would have to overcome in order to reach the a certain peak before enjoying the descend...
Actually, you do not even need to be either to know that. Isn't that common sense?
Alright that was not meant to be insulting to anybody who till then have not been able to see that , it was however, meant to lead on to the question: why would we know this little observation to be true?
My brain does not usually work very hard to search for an answer, but as I recall that event and the words of FXK, the story presented itself nicely and hopefully I would do enough justice with words.
The uphill climb was relatively easier for me than XK because simply, my bicycle was better. My wheels were larger and I had the luxury of changing gears for climbing. XK's foldable bicycle however had no gears and had donuts for wheels(just kidding). In order to overcome that slope he had to pedal hard and pedal non-stop. Consistency and effort was important as he summed it up: "I cannot afford to lose momentum."
Epiphany #1:
There is an answer to the question on why is the observation (when you want to come down, you must get up) generally common sense. This is because this idea somehow relates to our lives. We have this goal or place we would want to reach and then we overcome obstacles along the way to reach it. Most of the time we would think that after reaching this goal or achieving something, life or that part of the journey is going to get easier or smoother.
That sounded a lot like some silly generalization but hey we do relate pretty well to that illustration.
I have been sharing to friends about how amazing it is to wake up each morning and immerse myself in the presence of God, just seeking Him in the living Word each day. I do not think this comes easily but rather through the mercies of God and realising that only by constant communion with Him can we truly live a victorious Christian life, i.e the peak I have been looking for.
Once we lose momentum, we fall off the bicycle easily and that simply makes you look very uncool.
Then of course, next is the downhill part. Trust me on this, downhill is not the easy part after the uphill. XK was the first to go and that guy sped downhill with speed of about 70km/h (I realised later that he was so fast because of his 20KG bag that is placed in front of his handlebar.) So I let go and just sped down towards the turning traffic circle without brakes on.
AMAZING.
The speed. The wind. The exhilaration. If I had to find a reason why I am blogging down this seemingly mundane stuff, this had to be it! Which leads to...
Epiphany #2:
Once we are in the place where God wants us to be, when we heed that call to go up to the mountains and look over at the glory of His promised land. Once we get our feet wet and attempt to cross the Jordan river of our lives.
Once we do all that, God works.
When God works, all we need to do is to sit back and watch in amazing wonder how powerful God is. So powerful we do not even need to lift anything in our strength.
Many times in my service to God(or so call 'service'), I would end up exhausted and jaded. Now I realise that when we are in God's service, He really does put everything in place. All we need is to put ourselves in the place He wants us to be, which usually makes us extremely uncomfortable or torn.
OK. So why is this called positional santification?
This is a theological term that I have learnt and that means once we accepted the Lordship of Jesus Christ in our lives, we would be santified because of our position in Christ.
I write this because I have been deceived about this.
If we subscribe solely to the above(which is absolutely true), then we as humans will take the lazy way out and forget about progressive santification.
I just wanted to put across this new positional santification as being in a position where God wants you to be. Only then will He be able to work His progressive santification in us.
If you would allow me to take this further, perhaps why we as Christians do not grow in ways that God has promised, it is because we are in a position of compromise.
Let us leave the low lands and climb the mountain of our faith.
The climbing position requires one to stand up and pedal.
Stand up for the Truth, then keep pedalling.
1 comment:
Bingxin... amazing. =) Thank you for sharing. I'm up at 530am in sweden because I just can't sleep. And I just looked through names in my msn and i chanced upon your blog (you have a blog????) I totally understand about cycling too, now that I have my bike... love it! thinking of getting one when I get back home.. =P But again, amazing post! you write really well..
Post a Comment