Free Spirits

Been a rocky week, with ups and downs. Thank God sch is really getting better, and i'm so blessed. Being heckcare like always, i didn't bother to print lecture notes, but somehow 3 diff ppl in my 3 diff lectures happened to print extra/had to print for themselves last min so helped me print. In any case, i just went to class empty-handed and always ended up with lecture notes from a friend. And one lent me her RBR notes to photocopy--those in NUS shd know these are like rare treasures, plus i bumped into a yr 3 friend who lent me her book for this sem so i need not buy/hunt it down somehow. Praise the Lord! =)

Free Spirits. It's always a controversy, whether God's laws liberate or restrict. If the latter were true, wouldn't that make all Christians Dead Spirits? If one were to be too caught up in the rules, then i believe it would kill our spirit. But that was not what God intended, for it is truly impossible for us to abide by all the laws. Yet it is the Heart of the Law that matters, it is this that liberates. It's a matter of perspective, and maturity. It's a matter of wisdom. The difference btw seeing a law as liberating/restrictive lies in how far you see. For many of us in our infancy see only the immediate future. We want to yield to our pleasures. Now. But if we were to look into the crystal globe, the consequences of these temporary pleasures yield much destruction. Initially, it may appear liberating to be able to do whatever u want to, whenever. You could get into all sorts of nonsense and feel in control. But after awhile, who controls who? I'd think the nonsense controls you. And that hardly seems liberating.Still there were times when i was close to embracing something i know will not have a future. Sometimes it seems, even education can confuse you. Learning to be critical bout everything makes one wonder sometimes, who's to say what's wrong? Sometimes excessive knowledge, when mishandled, can cause destruction. It's like in the Garden of Eden, when Adam and Eve ate from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, God said they would die. While they did not die in the way they'd imagined, which was what the evil serpent manipulated to cause them to doubt God, they died to innocence, they died to purity, they died to that intimate closeness with God. Once they'd everything they needed and wanted, a perfect utopia, now they were cursed and had to endure suffering in the world. God knew that they would not be able to handle the Knowledge of Good and Evil, so He commanded them not to. But they disobeyed, and while there remained traces of good in men, it was the evil that proliferated. So much obscenity in the world today, so much suffering and agony, because of that Fruit our ancestors couldn't resist. I'm not saying that we should thus quit studying, but that along with greater knowledge comes greater risk of stumbling, and we should hold on tight to Wisdom in those times.

But it is certainly Folly speaking when you know deep inside what your conscience, or the Holy Spirit, says and choose to drown out that small, still voice anyway. Sure your flesh will fight, you'd try to justify your own ends, and of course the devil will take the chance to join in and fan the flames. But i've chosen to yield to my flesh too many times and reaped the undesirable consequences, and no longer will i do that. I choose wisdom, i choose to listen to the small, still voice that is always right. But that does not mean i am thus a Dead Spirit. On the contrary, when i made the decision i felt free. Cos i may not be in control, but God is. And better Him than me, cos i trust Him more than i trust myself. I am a Free Spirit, because my Lord Jesus, He sets me free.