Well, thanks for the impressive appreciation from Marisa and Aibou, I am really thankful, and it made me eager to write another article. I have talked about finding the King in my previous entry, but then again, the fact cannot be avoided that lots of people (including me) are having trouble finding the King. Why is that? Let us take a look first at a story all of you may have known, in Matthews 21:12-13, Mark 11:15-17, Luke 19:45-46 and John 2:14-16. This was the story of Jesus driving away the merchants from the Holy Temple in Jerusalem. It gave me an inspiration.

Imagine that the road to the Palace of the King is far away. On the road, there are market tents offering all kinds of things, things that you would want, things that you would enjoy, things that would satisfy you and anchor you there forever and make you forget about coming to the King. These tents have these signs all over them: "Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies, envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like" (Gal 5:19-21). Maybe on your long journey, you feel tired and you can't keep up... so you decided to take a break and step into those tents, seeing what they have to offer...

But alas, it was a decision of a false path. Once you see and feel what those tents offer, you find happiness and pleasantness. You no longer have the desire to pursue a greater and fuller joy, and you decide to abide in that place, living forever there, enjoying all the entertainment that you can get (for while the time lasts). Until one day... the King came riding in a horse with His army marching towards the place. He turned the tables and captured all the tent owners (well, you have an idea of who "they" are, right?), then threw them to the prison for the rest of their lives... Well, of course, since you were there too, you got captured and thrown to the prison with the rest of them. And no matter how you shouted and screamed "I'm not one of them", you are not believed... =(

How many of us are staying in those "tents" right now? Praise the Lord if you're not one of them, because I am one of them. See, I'm staying here in the tent that got "Adultery & Fornication" above it. But these last few days, they have offered more to make it more enjoyable and more tempting for me to stay there, and I must say that so great was the power of the lure that on my consciousness of what is happening and what may happen, I still decided on my own to stay, and I'm even plunging deeper and deeper into it. And I must say that as I am writing this, I'm still thinking of staying here and not getting out of here as soon as I can. Why? Because I enjoy it here!

You want to know the effect of this sinful nature? A breaking in the relationship with God. I've neglected my prayer times and my Bible reading in the last two days. The first time I opened my Bible since Monday was just now when I had to look up the verses for the story above. Because I am getting close to Him these last weeks, I feel the shame and fear to address Him as I am now, especially as I know that I'm not coming to Him for repentance, and I'm actually still planning on continuing this "stay on the tent". I know my friends (especially Jessy and Marisa), you're going to whack me upside down and pull me out, but it will take a lot more than that to take me out from here... as far as I know only myself and one other can stop me from all this, but will I want that?

I'm afraid for now the answer is NO. I am still enjoying it here, and yes my friends, it has stopped me from seeking further to the King. So now you know, what can (and will) hinder you from finding the King. My only hope is that you won't suffer the same defeat that I have suffered, and that you can find the King in His throne...


••• Wednesday, November 26, 2003 •••