Why do I choose to follow Jesus?

I remember a few days ago, a friend of mine asked me this: Why did God create us?

It's probably a question most of us faced. Understanding the answer to that question but not quite being able to find the words for the answer, I asked a close friend who studies the Bible.

He then gave me a link and upon looking at it, it stated this: God created us for His pleasure.

http://www.gotquestions.org/why-did-God-create-us.html

At the first glance, it seems that we are simply created as God's plaything, to be thrown away when He's done playing around with us and no longer entertained.

However, we are looking at things from a very shallow perspective.

First of all, what is pleasure?

Is pleasure simply just playing games? Or can we derive pleasure from relationships and more? I leave that for you to answer.

And of course, let us bring in the concept of 'Play'. What is Play exactly?

I agree with Heidegger when he mentions that the modern world over-simplifies everything from their original context.

Perhaps we ARE God's plaything. But, again, what exactly is Play?

Is Play simply just games? From the words of Roger Caillois, he says that Play cannot be truly defined. Play is flambouyant. Play is serious. A seeming contradiction. However, if we look at it, it makes sense. Play is something fun as we play amusing things to entertain us. Yet, there is the seriousness of chess. It is fun and we do enjoy it. But it is still serious nonetheless. Bad and inadequate analogies, I get it... but I think you get my point.The only defining nature of it is that we derive pleasure out of it.

Bringing it back to God creating us for His pleasure. Yes. We ARE for His pleasure, perhaps even His plaything. However, from how I look at it, it isn't such a deragoratry thing.

From the perspective of a writer and an artist. I create characters for pleasure. I enjoy doing it. It entertains me. They are my plaything. However, I LOVE them. I respect them as my characters. I shape them, yet I enjoy seeing how their stories unfold even though I know what their story is. I love them even though they're not perfect.

I guess that's how it is.And it's this love, I believe, that translates manyfold to what God's love is for us.He's the God who created the universe in six days with just words alone.

He's the God who holds the entire universe in His hands.

He's the God who cannot be defeated by the Devil even though the Devil seems so powerful.

He's the God who destroyed the armies that went against His people.

He's the God who sent His one and only Son down to die for a fallen world. He traded a perfect Son who would NEVER EVER hurt Him for a whole world of imperfection who couldn't give a single hoot about Him, just simply because He loves us all.

He's the God who went through Death and overcame it so that we could be saved.

He's the God who comforts me in my pain and exhaustion.

He's the God who laughs with me.

He's the God who inspires me.

He's the God who says that perfection is His business and doing my best is my only business.

He's the God who says that He doesn't want anything from me unless I sincerely want to give it to Him.

He's the God who gives me more than I can ever give Him.

He's the God who has protected me through various events.

He's the God who helps me to get the job done.

He's my God.

That's why I believe in Him.

~Heian Edenwood (Kornelius Wang)

Life is Unfair - Thanking God for Each Moment

"Life is unfair."

I concur to that statement, that's for sure. Life is full of unfair things. You get bad grades even though you study hardly your stead cheats on you and ruins the relationship you both had going; your newborn baby dies; you are the loner and outcast in whereever you are; you don't feel like you fit in;l you don't seem to have the perfect family everyone seems to have; you don't have the chiseled good looks... the list goes on.

Life is full of unfair things. It deals us blow, after blow, after blow and we are so often crippled by it (as taken from the words of Pastor June Chuah). I'm not saying those things aren't real. I'm not saying they don't affect us all. I'm not saying that those things are easy to deal with.

They're not.

They suck.

But guess what? We're stuck in a fallen world of imperfection.

So where's God in all of this?

To be honest, I myself don't come from a rather chirpy background. I came from a broken family with an abusive father. I suffered from depression. I was the outcast and loner. I was gay. I couldn't relate to people. I received insults and was constantly put down by everyone. I never received love from my family. I was rejected. I felt alone. I was hurt. I was suicidal.

Where was God in all of this?

If I have learnt anything, it's that life isn't about griping about the few big problems that occur within our lives. Yes, they're difficult. But life is about being grateful and thanking God for the countless beautiful and tiny blessings He showers into our lives daily.

Each and every day, we take the good things in life for granted. To those in a first-world country, we actually have someplace to live in. We have food to fill our bellies. We have money to spend. The list goes on. That's a lot more to be said compared to what can be said for those in third-world countries.

What can we be thankful for?

We aren't in the time of Hitler - the Jews didn't get the same chance.

I (as a Singaporean) wasn't born during the time of World War II - those who did suffered greatly and many died.

The air isn't poisonous. It's still breathable.

Most of us have water to drink.

The buildings aren't crashing down on us right now.

The list goes on...

As for me, I wouln't have gotten to where I am right now if it weren't for all the unfair things in my life.
If I didn't have a broken family; if I wasn't rejected; if I wasn't hurt and alone; (you get the idea) I wouldn't have fallen into depression. If I hadn't fallen into depression, I wouldn't have found the church and God. If I hadn't found the church and God, life wouldn't be pretty fair for me now.

So where was God in all of this? With me all the time.