Six months ago, I was fortunate enough to have been given a copy of a book that's been on the bestseller list of some local bookstores for many months since the start of this year. I've seen it displayed on the bookshelves of National Bookstore with the words "over 16 million copies sold" prominently displayed on its book cover. I even saw one of my officemates bring a copy of this book to office and upon seeing it, I nonchalantly said ''That's a good book!" even though I haven't actually read it yet. The book was just given to me by someone I didn't know albeit I was just a guest at this church service in Makati, where I gave in to a friend's invitation out of curiosity more than anything else because I had nothing else to do during that weekend.
I did a quick browse of the book and I instantly saw the words "God" and "Jesus" in almost every page of the book. "Oh no!" I said to myself, "It's another book on religion and spirituality!" After that, I didn't bother opening the book again. I just took it home and set it aside among my other things where it promptly got lost in a pile of documents lying in some corner of the house.
Fast forward to today: That same book now has dog-eared pages, some phrases and sentences are haphazardly underlined with black ink, and notes in my very own chicken scratch handwriting are casually written on the margins and in between sentences and paragraphs. This is the first time I "desecrated" a book like this; any person with a melancholic temperament would posthaste burn at the stake if they saw what the kind of "torture" I did to that book.
I've no regrets doing what I did to this book though. I am now midway through reading "The Purpose Driven Life" by Rick Warren and I must say that the timing was just right for me to have started reading the book. If I had read it then, I wouldn't have appreciated what was written on it. Let's just say that God purposefully "hid" the book from me... perhaps He knew I wasn't ready to read it yet at that time.
I just accidentally "found" that book sometime in October (or maybe it was the book who found me?) only after I had ''Quenched My Thirst" and was yearning to know more about who my Savior was. But even when I had found the book already, I still couldn't find time to start reading it. I always had a ready excuse: "Sorry. I'm busy…"
Enter Singapore… 'Twas the time of my life, spending vacation and reunion time with the family after so many years of being apart due to my work. Needless to say, I was still "thirsting" for Him. I still didn't know what to do next even though I knew that I had already accepted Jesus into my heart and into life. I kept asking ''What next? How should I live my life now? What should I do???" Still, so many questions remained unanswered in my mind.
And so He intervened again...
A friend of some friends who I met during my stay in Singapore gave me a small booklet by the same author entitled "What on Earth am I Here For?" It's just a small 4"x6" booklet, 70 pages thick (or thin) and it's quite easy to read it in just one sitting. "Ah! Finally, here's something that I can finish reading quickly!" I said to myself. I didn't have any excuse anymore not to read the booklet. I opened it up and started reading.
Would you believe it if I said that the answers to all of my questions were revealed right there in that one small booklet? I was touched! I had been asking questions repeatedly and He provided the answers.
It was simply... Amazing!
Indeed… everything, no matter how small, happens for a reason -- His reason.
And true to my inquisitive self, the answers I got led to more questions. But this time, I knew now what to do next... I picked up the book that I "found" and started reading the introduction to "The Purpose Driven Life". Not knowing it, I had commenced a new journey -- a 40-day spiritual journey that will enable me to discover the answer to life's most important question: ''What on Earth am I Here For?" I started devoting at least an hour to read just one chapter each day and to reflect and meditate on His word. As the author has written, by the end of this journey, I will know God's purpose for my life and I will get to understand the big picture -- how the pieces of my life all fit together.
It's true… Each day I know (and feel) that I am getting closer to completing this journey. The answers slowly reveal themselves, but not in the book anymore. This time the answers are revealed in life -- in real life.
"Seek and you shall find". Again it's really... Amazing!!!
And like any journey, it is better when it is shared. I haven't got anyone joining me in reading the book... yet (the author recommends joining a small reading group) so I just oftentimes call up or text some friends to bounce ideas off each other. Like teamwork, relationships and community produce spiritual growth. So I thank God
for the privilege of having these friends. They are indeed a wonderful blessing to me.
With grace and guidance from up above, I know this is a journey I will not fail.
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"I love those who love Me; and those who seek Me early shall find Me." --Proverbs 8:17
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