The Greatest Gift

School has started and I've been terribly busy. Had to relief 6 periods of classes today, and all I did was grab a chair and had very interesting conversations with various cliques of girls. Despite doing something as simple and entertaining as that, it was still ultra-tiring. And fasting didn't help because I K.O. on my desk within a few minutes of prayer; I nearly died of starvation during driving class later. So I did most of my praying on the bus and MRT.

But I survived. Yay.


The prayer agenda for the senior guys was for the Holy Spirit to move in the hearts of the junior guys. Sometimes I'm inclined to think that if one does not listen to the voice of the Holy Spirit, then one is no different from a non-believer. After all, the Holy Spirit acts like a guide, a teacher, but yet never overwhelms us, always gently voicing from the side. Thus it is so easy for other priorities like studies, music, relationships, get in the way of the Holy Spirit's voice, drowning Him out.

It's the last day of June, and the last day for this episode of Everyday with Jesus. And as I did my QT, this verse sounded out to me:

"Which of you fathers, if your son asks for a fish, will give him a snake instead? Or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion? If you then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!" (Luke 11:11-13)

It was a well-quoted verse; at one glance, nothing special. Then a little question popped into my head, "Why doesn't the verse end like '... how much more will your Father in heaven give to those who ask him?' Why Holy Spirit? Why not money, wisdom or health?"

Then it dawned on me. The Holy Spirit is the greatest gift that God can ever give! However, the thing about gifts is this. The giver can offer it, but the receiver has the right NOT to take it. It's not like punishment, or laws, or your ugly green duffel bag that they chuck into your arms on Tekong. Imagine if you chucked your duffel bag back at the sergeant. Best of luck to you, brave soldier. They'll probably enlist you to the Commandos, or send you to Detention Barracks for insubordination. Most likely the latter.

But the Holy Spirit is a gift from God. Have you ever bought something for someone, only to have it chucked away? Have you ever spent so much effort to do something for someone only to hear that it was immediately discarded without so much as a glance?

Yes, yes, I understand that sometimes a girl just doesn't wants her pursuer to get the wrong idea. The best thing to do then is to discard the gift with the hope that his passion will fizzle out after a few bouts of "emo-ness". But turning the tables around, have you ever felt rejected?

For myself, giving gifts is my most frequently used love language when physical touch and words of affirmation have been rendered handicapped or overused. I can still recall the time when, being young and full of hot-blooded passion, I wrote a love letter to an ex-girlfriend every week for half a year only to find out that she tore up every one of them without reading a single word. I'm not so vain as to liken myself to God, but often I share a portion of His sentiments when I see people not wanting to read the Bible despite having full access to it. I also recall the time when I left gifts and sent flowers to another girl's house, only to have her discard them immediately for the sake of her own sanity. Foolhardy and childish, ain't I? (But deep down inside I suspect that this part of me hasn't really been put to rest yet; blame it on the hopeless, "emo" romantic within me)

But God gives the Holy Spirit, and that is the greatest gift anyone can ever accept. Thus the need for prayer when Christians around us, of whom have accepted the Holy Spirits into their hearts, have over time learn to deaden the Voice within after the constant bombardment of worldly desires and personal pressures. The very commonality of this sight should drive those of us who can see this tragic portrait into much worry and grief.

Pray, my brothers, that the Holy Spirit will move within the hearts of our juniors. Pray that God will put them in circumstances where they begin to long for an out-of-this-world guidance that never fails. Pray most of all, that the Voice is not just heard clearly, but obeyed out of the utmost fear and the highest adoration.



God also testified to it by signs, wonders and various miracles, and gifts of the Holy Spirit distributed according to his will. -Anonymous (Hebrews 2:4)

We are always too busy for our children; we never give them the time or interest they deserve. We lavish gifts upon them; but the most precious gift, our personal association, which means so much to them, we give grudgingly. -Mark Twain

If someone were to ask me, given the chance to turn back the hands of the clock, would I still leave little gifts outside your window, write poems of love to you, sing love songs into your ear? Would I send you flowers, escort you to your doorstep, copy verses of the Good Book and leave them where I know you'd find them? Oh yes, I would. My only regret would be that I didn't do any thing more. -Valentino Casanova