Japen left with Anya without saying goodbye to them. The next day, Hana announced at the dining table that the two had left the big house. Japen had said goodbye to Hana the night before. According to the man, he wanted to move away with Anya and go to a quiet place. Hana didn’t object, which raised a few eyebrows.
Hana smiled sweetly. “Don’t worry. Japen and Anya have been healed for a long time. They stayed here because they had nowhere to go, and now that they’ve found a place to move to, they formally said goodbye to Eman and me.”
“But why so sudden?” Azora suddenly interrupted, frowning at the female doctor.
“Because there’s nothing stopping them from moving. According to Japen, the person who ordered them to come here to the south has lost their grip. The two want to live in a quiet place and start a family. We granted their request.”
But Azora’s frown didn’t lessen. She couldn’t understand why she felt a sudden unease at Hana’s words. Japen didn’t say goodbye to her, and Anya said nothing either. It was as if they didn’t know each other and just left without a word. She was hurt by what the two had done.
Lamech held Azora’s clenched hand. She looked at Lamech and smiled. The woman smiled back at him. They continued eating in silence.
Suddenly, a man approached the dining table. He smiled and shook hands with Hana and Eman, who stood up upon seeing him.
“Everyone, this is Mr. Zion Victor Desmantes. He is a missionary from another country who has now settled here in the Philippines. He will be our guest for the next few months, and I want you to get to know him well. He will be one of your guides in healing, besides other psychological tests that will be conducted in the coming days,” Hana introduced the man.
Zion smiled. “Good morning. You can call me Zion and nice to meet you all.”
Azora looked up at the man, and their eyes met. Lamech observed their exchange of glances. After a while, Azora looked down and continued eating. Lamech didn’t say anything and just smiled at the missionary, then resumed eating.
After breakfast, Lamech and Azora toured the park. They rode a golf cart to explore the large amusement park. They briefly rode the ferris wheel before returning to the big house.
“But God demonstrates His own love towards us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”
Azora stopped walking, and so did Lamech. She looked at the woman. She was looking at the large living room of the big house where the patients were sitting on a large couch and some one-seater sofas, while in front of them was the missionary, Zion. The man was speaking while the patients listened intently. She also saw Sena seriously looking at the missionary.
Lamech saw Azora sitting on a two-seater sofa on the right side, somewhat far from Zion but close enough to hear what he was saying. So he did nothing but sit beside Azora and listen to Zion.
“Everyone knows, believes, and follows a god.” Zion looked around at the people listening to him. “Do you believe that everyone in this world follows a god? Even atheists follow a god!”
“Atheists don’t believe in God,” said one patient.
Zion turned to the patient and smiled. “They don’t believe in a Creator, but they follow a god.”
“How is that so?” another patient prodded, raising an eyebrow as if not believing what Zion was saying.
“Because…” Zion said, “… they follow their human desires, thus making them followers of a god, and that god is their sinful nature or themselves. Yes, they don’t believe in the supernatural or the Creator, but they follow a god, and that is their desires.”
“Really?” another patient said, folding their arms and narrowing their eyes at Zion.
The man chuckled slightly. “The word ‘god’ doesn’t only pertain to the God Almighty, the Creator of heaven and earth. There are many gods in this world. The enemy is also a god of this world, the ruler of this passing world, as Jesus said in John 12:31, ‘Now is the judgment of this world; now the ruler of this world will be cast out.’
Today, the enemy is ruling this world. He has blinded the unbelievers, made sin a culture, unless the light of the gospel will shine upon them. People don’t know that they are following a god. The question is… who is this god?
If I would ask you, who is your God, what would be your answer?”
The patients listening to Zion were silent. Even Azora and Lamech didn’t speak and remained staring at the missionary. Azora couldn’t understand the feeling at that moment. It was as if something was urging her to listen to the man standing in front of them all.
“You, yourself, become your god when you love yourself more than you love God who created the heaven and earth, and more than you love your neighbor. It is the truth that is hard to accept. We think of god as something or someone that is there up in the sky, but we don’t know that a god can be found here on earth and even yourself can become your god or someone’s god. And this has another name — idols.
You become an idol of someone or even yourself when all you think of is to satisfy the desires of yourself or someone will worship you. Don’t. Don’t let someone idolize you nor worship you, for you will be accountable in front of God Almighty.
Nowadays, it is easy to become a public figure or someone who has a reputation through the online world. It is easy to become an idol when you have talent. It is easy for people to follow you and make you their role model.
Ridiculous!
Can you imagine people proclaiming that their role model is also a sinner like them? What? That’s absurd! Because the moment you follow a sinner, you can’t be righteous at all! How can a sinner be a role model to follow? How can a sinner save people from hell?
The reason why many are going to hell is because they follow a sinner to hell. That logic is simple.”
The patients became even quieter. They couldn’t grasp Zion’s point, but even though they didn’t fully understand what he was saying, they still wanted to listen intently. They didn’t know why they were sitting there in the large living room, listening to a missionary.
“Sometimes in our life, we hear of people being public figures, celebrities, who are doing charity or showing kindness towards others. And we praise them for that, claiming that this person has done a great job and is a good example to other people. And that is a sad thing.
Is it rare to see someone doing kind things nowadays? Is it rare to have a good heart?
We don’t know.
But this kind of situation, where even doing kind things is to be praised upon… is the foundation of the industry of idols.
Idols. We put these people on pedestals and make them our idols. That’s a bad thing to do. For upon putting them on pedestals, they become a god for other people, if not for you.
And God is jealous of those idols that His people are worshipping. So think before you proclaim someone to be your idol and before you worship them with honor, pride, and resources. You can’t handle the wrath of Him who sits on His throne.”
“So you are saying that idolatry, or making someone your idol is a sin?” Sena asked.
Lamech looked at the woman. She was intently looking at Zion. He smiled slightly. This seemed to be the reason why Sena asked for his forgiveness when they returned to the big house.
Zion nodded. “It is indeed a sin.” He smiled at the woman. “Remember what I said earlier that atheists follow a god?”
“Yes. I remember.”
“Good. Their idol is themselves or the people around them or the things of this world. And they are very vulnerable to sin because they could easily give in to the desires of their flesh, without having remorse or regret for doing such sin.”
“How about Christians?” asked a male patient who had been quiet earlier but suddenly spoke.
“They could also fall into sin if they are not alert. But Christians are different. They have the Holy Spirit who convicts them of their sins and always reminds them that they belong to God and not to the ruler of this world.”
“Always remind?”
“Yes.” Zion smiled at the man. “You see, if we apply biblical perspective, there are only two groups of people. One is those who are still sleeping and those who are already awake.”
“What?”
“Those who are still asleep are those people who are committing sins and following the ruler of this world. Basically, these are the criminals, the people who disobey the law of God. They are bound to be punished in hell and be banished from the presence of God forever.
The second group of people are those who are awake, or those who are saved. They are the people who believe in and follow Christ and are acquitted from the punishment of death. As proof that they are saved from the punishment of death, God gave them the Holy Spirit, who guides Christians in their lives while they wait for Christ’s return.”
“So… what group of people are we?” Sena asked.
Zion looked at her. “Do you believe in Christ?”
“Why should we believe in Him?”
“Because He did not commit sin yet He died for us in order to give us eternal life. And He was resurrected on the third day and ascended to heaven and is seated at the right hand of the Father.
Jesus is a sinless man who died on the cross even though He was blameless. Why did He
die? He gave up His life for us because we are all sinners, and death is the punishment for committing sin.
But the moment Jesus died on the cross, it marked the end of the law. It was the end of the law because the punishment for disobeying the law is death, and Jesus took that death on behalf of all of us who committed sin and believe in Him. That’s why He said, ‘It is finished,’ before He died.
Now, if Jesus died on behalf of us, what awaits us who believe in Him at the end of this temporary life and the end of this passing world?
Life. Eternal life. We will not be subjected to decay, for those who died in the Lord will be resurrected, and those who are still alive, their bodies will transform into incorruptible bodies in the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.
God raised Jesus from the dead so He could glorify Him. If Jesus had not been resurrected from the dead, then our faith would be in vain. For when Jesus was raised from the dead, there is now a hope for us that we will inherit eternal life and that He will come again into this world in all of His glory. And every knee will bow down and every tongue will confess that He is indeed the Lord.”
“Why do you believe that there is God, Mr. Zion?” Azora suddenly asked.
Lamech looked at Azora, who was still seriously looking at the missionary. He couldn’t read her thoughts because she wasn’t showing any emotion.
Zion cleared his throat and smiled at Azora. “Because I experienced His glory when I surrendered my life to Him. I felt tremendous joy and peace that no one could describe and understand in this world. The moment my knee hit the ground was when my life really started. I never knew that I was only breathing until the day that I surrendered my life to Him.”
“Surrendered your life?” Azora frowned. “But you’re here, breathing.”
Zion laughed. “Yes, of course. I am here, Miss Azora.” He smiled at her. “What I meant by surrendered life is you give your whole life — your dedication, aspiration, dreams, goals in life, talent, time, people you care about — to God. You don’t keep anything back. You give everything to God, everything in your life, and entrust your life to Him. In other words, you give your trust and whole heart to God. And He will give you value, or purpose in your life.”
“Why should we surrender our life?”
“Because our old self should die before God raises us into glory. It was what Jesus said in John 12:24, ‘Most assuredly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it produces much grain.’
This parable is talking about a person who surrenders his life to God. When the person lays down his life at the feet of Jesus, his old self — the mistakes he committed in the past, the hidden sins, the sins he did in public, his selfish desires and dreams, his sinful nature — dies, and a new persona will rise from this person. This persona is much more caring, loving, peace-loving, loves Jesus more than anyone else, trembles at the presence of God in awe and reverence, and is a friend of the Holy Spirit.
The person before he laid his life down at the feet of Jesus is alone, but after he offered himself to God, he produces much grain. Produces much grain is not in a literal sense, but it talks about the fruits of this person or the faith and good deeds he will do for mankind, as well as the fruits of the Holy Spirit, which are kindness, peace, love, gentleness, self-control, etc.
When you have the Holy Spirit, you will feel the love of God towards you.
Has anyone ever told you that God loves you, but you didn’t feel His love for you? That’s because you don’t have the Holy Spirit yet. Only the Holy Spirit can open your heart to feel God’s love.
And once you feel His presence in your life…” Zion smiled. “You will never be the same person again.”