The sound of fireworks, gongs blazing, lion dance, traffic jam, long queues at the mall only mean one thing. Chinese New Year is here again. This is by far the most celebrated festive season. Yes bigger than christmas, at least in Malaysia.
I have mixed feelings this time of year for obvious reasons but I love it all the same. its nice to see everyone back and there's the visiting and the fellowship, its great.
This year I decided to take my devotions a bit more serious and its been great so far. Lets see how long I last. But today reading through Matthew again and seeing how Jesus deals with our motives for the things we do made me consider how I have done things until now. And then there's the talk of reward for praying and giving. Is there one for motivation or is it just for knowledge. Should I do something because I know there's a reward? I was thinking about this and what came to mind is the board game risk. In the game if you do not conquer at least one territory in your turn you don't get a card for re-enforcements. So sometimes it may not be beneficial to attack and nearby territory but just because you want the card to re-enforce later in the game you do it anyway. So should our prayers and giving be because we want the rewards? And interestingly Jesus does not mention what they are. Motives.
This whole thing made me think about the difference in the lifestyle of people who love God. We pray before our meals not because we can't eat otherwise but because we want to be grateful to God who provides. And we recognize that what we have is a gift from God. Its a powerful expression of faith and belief. Of course this is just one example and a very simple one at that but really if it can become a habit to fully embrace this kind of lifestyle and truly be different, that's a very powerful thing.
As is usually the case, I didn't intend writing so much but I guess I've been thinking about these things for a while and they just jumped out there. Happy year of the dragon to all celebrating.
-ONWARD!