A prodigal sheep

I saw my friend psyched up preparing surprises for her boyfriend on their first year anniversary. I can’t help but to envy her for having one. While helping her out, I felt excited doing the same thing for my boyfriend (future). ; ) I wanna do art works (for the sake of surprises) for him; I wanna exchange mushy/corny whatever messages with him; I wanna take wacky pictures of us; I wanna hear his endearments to me and create funny pet names for him; hehe! (Sigh) Weeks later, she showed me the scrap book that her boyfriend had made for her birthday. I was so impressed! As in, I never thought that a guy could actually create something like that. I mean, you could really see the effort – very detailed artistic designs. As in! Oh well… I shall force my future boyfriend to make one for me. Hehe!        

When I was young, I used to think that women over 23 years old are so grown up that they should be married. But now being in my mid 20s, I still feel so young and so not ready to settle down. Haha! But of course I don’t even have a boyfriend to start that with. Honestly, I’m not troubled not having a boyfriend at this time but it just felt so weird how society puts pressure on women singles like my age. I am always a victim of “single blessedness”, “finding a boyfriend at the next life time”, “tiguyang na wala pay boyfriend”, “hapit na mulapas sa kalendaryo” comments/joke from my bully friends. I would just often laugh at them and say “I have faith”. Indeed I do! I believe that He has someone prepared especially for me. I see God as the perfect match maker! If I am single now, then it must be for a purpose. I could use this time to prepare myself into becoming the woman that my future boyfriend had prayed for. Same as he is also being shaped into becoming the man that I prayed for. I know that someday, I’ll have a love story to tell. True love waits!

I believe that we are vindicated by faith. It is not by works because if it were so, then man has something to boast about. Needless to say, we could never brag it before the Lord for we know that we all fall short of His glory. It is not through following the law because law in itself brings wrath. Why? Well, let’s say that we may have obeyed 90% of the law but at some point we have been a law breaker. So, we must be punished. Be it considered as “small sins” (e.g. hoarding a bond paper from the office for personal use, grumbling over a long queue, etc.) but then again we are still being held accountable to God. How then will we be justified by our works? We will never be made righteous by our own works! Salvation is received not by doing good but by believing. Truly it is man’s nature to work hard in order to gain something. Say, a student studies hard in order to have high grades; an employee works 8 hours a day in order to receive salary; a suitor makes every effort possible to win favor from the girl he likes. But God’s way of salvation is totally different. He has taken care of it through Jesus Christ.

Only when we believe in Jesus will God see us righteous. Why? Because our faith shows that we acknowledge God’s ability to blot out our sins. By the cross, we can live a new life – clean slate! No fret! Isn’t that great?

*devotions on Romans 4