Little Children

Elizabeth, my three year-old tot, came up beside me and patted me on the arm to get my attention. Then she made a preposterous request.

"Daddy, can I have 10 sweets?" she asked, raising all ten fingers. 

"No," I fired back.

She did not seem to hear me and continued to press on like a good telemarketer, "Can I have 10 sweets, please!"

"No," I said again, not losing my patience, but a little amused how she thought she could get away with 10 sweets when I usually deny her even two.

"But I really want", she went on - and soon, it graduated to "But I really really want", and ending with a crescendo of "But I really really want it NOW".

Elizabeth eventually settled for two, and she went away with great joy, having got what she wanted.

Here is an example of childish and childlike faith at work. Childish because she was not asking for things of the father, but her own. Things which gave her pleasure, but may or may not have been good for her. Childlike because she is comfortable approaching the father to ask for anything she wants, and even when denied, continues to press on until it is given to her.

Many believers of Jesus Christ remain little children. They remain both childish and childlike.

Childish because they ask not for things of the father, but their own. A Ferrari, Bentley, Jaguar or perhaps a more modest BMW. A GCB along Dempsey, a penthouse on Grange Road, or perhaps a more modest condominium along East Coast. Becoming an MD, CEO or SVP, or perhaps a more modest GM. For their children to top the nation, school, or class, or perhaps more modestly, just to pass. Things which give them pleasure, but may or may not have been good for them.

They do not ask first for the wisdom that is worth more than silver, bringing more profit than gold, that is more precious than rubies and nothing can equal it. They do not seek this wisdom, which God has promised to give liberally to all who should ask, but instead seek their own things which they do not know if God would even answer. 

Childlike because they are comfortable approaching the throne of grace with all boldness to ask for anything they want. Even if the Father has said "no", they do not seem to hear it and continue to press on like a good telemarketer. They will ask for it again and again tirelessly, and with greater intensity until it becomes almost heartbreaking.

While God is pleased with childlike faith, He will enjoy it more when His children are asking for things on His heart. He is probably amused at some of the things His children ask for, and hopes that they will grow up one day. Children hear only what they want. They do not hear "the love of money is the root of all evil", "godliness with contentment is great gain", but they do hear "God wants to bless you". 

Let us walk circumspectly, not as fools but as wise, and examine the contents of our prayers. Do we pray and ask for our things or His?

Under-rested

There are many genuinely overworked people, but most people are not so much over-worked as they are under-rested.

I have heard many a gung-ho manager dismiss the idea of work-life balance, and I can empathize with the disdain to some extent. For some, it is an amorphous idea spawned by lazy smart alecks who have a disproportionate sense of entitlement - bummers who want to get away with minimal work and yet enjoy all the benefits made possible by those who toil. For others, it is a ploy of the devil - after all, it is "unbiblical" - God rested only one day on Sabbath. Nowhere in Scripture do we see the call for 5 days of work, or 4 days of work. Working less than 6 days is already a form of "concession". 

There is a fundamental misrecognition of work. "Work" - as in work that generates income - has become so large a part of modern life, it has become the protagonist of modern living. We live in a fundamentally work-centric society - so much so that we perceive of our lives as between "work" in the marketplace and "life" in the private spheres, and that they are anti-thetical to each other. We think as if none of "life" constitutes work.

When we pay a bill, buy our groceries, send our kids for class - it is work, not rest.

Do you wonder why you are tired on a Saturday off-day? Notwithstanding the lack of sleep and rest, Singaporeans actually work a lot on Saturdays and Sundays - catching up on personal and family matters that they have postponed during the weekdays. We end up fighting the crowds for a parking lot, queueing for our hair cut, navigating an overloaded shopping cart through the supermarket maze, chasing our kids to finish homework. All these are work, not rest - the form and purpose of such work is different, but that does not change its very nature. It is a mere change of location and goal, but it is work. We work on our finances, our children, our parents, and our house. 

So, are we really resting? Rest is ceasing from work - and that includes work for personal and family matters. When God calls us to Sabbath, we are to do no work - not even lighting a fire! If we bear this standard in mind, it is not difficult to see how even a 4-day work week does not necessarily help us become rested if we do not purpose ourselves to rest. Let's be honest - how often do you take a holiday and are not rested (especially if you travel with children). 

Most people work seven days and do not know it, and wonder why they are tired. Are you under-rested?