We had an interesting discussion in my church cell meeting on Friday nite. The topic was about freedom, in particular from financial debt. Everybody was of coz agreed that all of us have at one time or another, and/or are still 'in debt' in the sense that there were/are financial commitments in our lives. Especially the 'big' ones like housing, car and/or credit card loans. The spin-off was whether we could avoid incurring them, to be totally debt-free ie not owing $ for this, that or the other thing we 'have to have'. The logic goes that things such as a roof over our heads for our families and at least 1 car to move around for work is a necessity these days. Especially these days, and especially at the rate prices of houses are going through the roof (pun intended). No argument with that. Period.
Indeed when I was just starting out in life, that was precisely what I worked towards....a good job, car, house, husband, family, (no, I don't mean humans are 'acqusitions' as such). Nothing wrong with such desires, and indeed I was blessed with all these along the journey of my life. But I remember after my husband's funeral, as I sat on the floor, faced with a debt listing of $600k comprising 2 house/car mortgages and compounded credit card debts over the years, and trying to compute that with my then-monthly income of barely $1000 per month and living expenses of 3 growing kids, I was so shocked I couldn't even cry. By the way, that was the first time in my 40 years of living that I had to deal with balancing a cheque account all on my own. Yes, there was my husband's govt pension as his surviving widow, and there were some insurance monies on his life policy, but that couldn't even scrape off the bottom of the mountain of debt I was up against. When I look back, I honestly don't know how I made it through, so I can only say it had to be by the grace of God that after 4 years, I was totally debt-free, less 1 house and 1 car in the process. What's more, although we didn't have any fancy meals on the table or any branded clothes, my kids never had to starve or go begging.
A few years ago, when my eldest got her first job and her first serious relationship, she started talking about buying her own house. Before I would have patted her on the back, told her what a good responsible adult she was, and encouraged her all the way as a concerned mother. But I didn't, instead I told her to think through whether she really needed to own a house.
A house is a house is a house, whether bought or rented. I remember my childhood days spent in a small upstairs room which accommodated all 3 of us sleeping on a wooden floor on mats, with me sandwiched in between my parents (Ya, mats, not mattresses). Its size would be about a garage in some mansions these days. There was 1 miserable window that overlooked the main street, and we had 'live entertainment' thru out the nite with the never-ending 'music' of traffic along the road. The bathroom (no shower, only a cement enclosure to hold cold water from the tap) was all the way downstairs. Water-heater? What's that? The only thing that heated water was the kettle on the stove, which by the way had to be kindled the old-fashioned way using firewood. The toilet was a pit latrine, accessible through climbing up some stone steps; I absolutely hated going there, my fear was always that I or my shoes would drop into the hole. My mom's legs weren't good even then, and so she had to have a portable 'potty' for her needs...and guess who ended up having to do the daily disposal and washing?? Those were the days, (certainly not very 'good old' days) and the kind of roof I lived under. But nevertheless it was a roof over my little head.
I had my first taste of 'luxury' when my father landed a job at the (then) MSM sugar factory, which provided free housing...man, that was the life for me...a house sooo big, we each had our own bedrooms, with extra to spare, and a swimming pool to run to every evening! When the old man retired, we 'down-graded' to a small flat, cramped, but still a roof. I made the big shift to the big city when I enrolled into University and spent years in my own rented space with a bed, a foldable wardrobe, a table and a chair. That qualified as a room. At least the bathroom and toilet was modern and on the same level. Even after I got married, we were still renting a room (not house) for years, till finally we got to own our very first decent (ie got enuf rooms for a couple and first kid) apartment.
So I tell my grownup daughter who had caught the house-owning bug... a roof is a roof is just a roof.
Many question the 'wisdom' of such an attitude. After all, we should spare some thought to being 'settled' in life, instead of being at the whim and fancy of fickle and fussy landlords. As responsible, matured adults, we should think of 'our future', invest wisely and raise up our kids in a 'proper' home. Again, I have absolutely no quarrel with that. My issue isn't about the need for a house or car or whatever. My point is ownership.... at what cost? Perhaps I have never really gotten over the initial shock of facing a debt that was impossible to repay. And throughout the years, I guess I have seen and experienced things that are worse, much worse than not owning a house (or anything for that matter) to one's name. Every Saturday, I sit down, listen to and talk with people who only have the star-studded sky as their 'roof' every nite, their whole life's possessions contained in a crumpled, half-torn back-pack or two. When you do that enuf times in a year, your whole perspective about life's priorities inevitably changes.
I am struck by how often in the Bible, when God calls, He quite literally and simply uproots people from their comfortable homes, jobs, families and circumstances. Jesus Himself declares, "Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head." (Mat 8:20). Come to think of it, on earth the only property that bore His name was a wooden cross, and that also He 'owned' only when He was hung dead on it. Even right from the beginning in Genesis, Abraham the man of faith was called out from a prosperous settled lifestyle in a big city and told to go. God unfortunately didn't tell him the GPS coordinates of where he was to go. In the process, Abraham detoured twice, and actually settled down (again) first in Haran and then in Egypt, where he (again) grew rather prosperous, accumulating many possessions in the process (Gen.12:5,16). If I were Abraham, I would have done the same thing, surely it's a 'wise' thing to leave a place of famine for a land of plenty?? but God didn't think so apparently, becoz as the story goes, Abraham was practically forced out of Egypt to go back to where he had run away from. In fact it was in the land of plenty that Abraham got into plenty trouble. Pondering over this, I have oft wondered when we say, God gives us wisdom, how do we actually know what we decide is actually in His/our wisdom??
I guess Abraham must have learnt his lesson well, since apparently he deliberately moved to park himself near an oak grove, unlike his nephew Lot who chose the 'bright lights' of the city of Sodom (Gen.13:12,18). If I were Abraham, the first thing I would have done is contact the local estate agent to put a deposit on a solid piece of landed property, or even better, build my own mansion in the promised land. After all, he had 'arrived'. Yet we are told by the time he hauled all the precious possessions he had acquired back to where God directed him, he lived " like a stranger in a foreign country.......in tents ....For he was looking forward to the city with foundations, whose architect and builder is God (Heb.11:9-10) Hmmm, tents huh....kind of flimsy roof, don't you think.
It gets worse when I read further on to discover all (ya, all, not 1 or a couple) of the 'heroes' in the faith chapter of the bible "admitted that they were aliens and strangers on earth....they were longing for a better country--a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared a city for them (Heb.11:13-16). Some faced jeers and flogging, while still others were chained and put in prison. They were stoned; they were sawed in two; they were put to death by the sword. They went about in sheepskins and goatskins, destitute, persecuted and mistreated.... They wandered in deserts and mountains, and in caves and holes in the ground (Heb.11:36-38). I wince inwardly at the thought of such "clothes" and "homes", and cannot thank God enough I don't have to endure such discomfort and suffering. Yet the Bible says "the world was not worthy of them... These were all commended for their faith, yet none of them received what had been promised. God had planned something better for us so that only together with us would they be made perfect" (Heb.11:39-40)
Something better...I don't belong to that category of awesomely faithful ones. Purely out of His goodness and generosity, God has blessed me with so much more than a prison..He hasn't required me to wander around much, or to live like a holed-up hermit; in fact quite to the contrary, I have a very decent roof over my head, tho it may be a very very old (and leaky) one. The old jalopy I drive around in may creak, squeak and make funny noises, but it gets me where I need/want to go. My family have pretty decent clothes to wear too, tho they may not have attached designer labels. But there is 1 thing I can share with these ancient heroes... in my heart, I know exactly what they knew then ....there is something better....
For this place called earth isn't my 'home', I am truly a 'pendatang asing', as the somewhat unpopular term goes. So really I don't need to 'put roots' here. I don't need to 'own' anything to feel secure, becoz my security comes not from things that can be bought with money, even 'good' things. Perhaps to many, this may seem to be a somewhat 'cavalier' irresponsible and unwise attitude. But I figure, if my security comes from knowing the God who has prepared for me 'something better', way way better than anything this world can offer, why would I need to acquire anything that would result in the process of building up a mountain of debt for myself or worse for those who inherit it after me to settle?? Especially since whatever I own will pass away one day anyway; indeed Jesus says even heaven and earth itself will pass away, only His Words remain (Mat.24:35)
After all, the keys to the most fantastic place I could ever 'own' has already been given to me and I didn't even have to pay a cent for it. Every morning when I glimpse the gold cross hanging from the chain I wear around my neck in the mirror, I remember once again Jesus already paid the price to reserve for me the best piece of prime property beyond this world. I am told this city and its street is of pure gold, the foundations of its walls are decorated with every kind of precious stone and its 12 gates are each made of single pearls (Rev. 21:18,19,21). If that's just the city itself, I cannot even imagine the splendor of the house that has my name engraved on the door. The cross was my husband's parting gift. It serves as a daily reminder that he is already there, waiting for me. And my house in that city stands forever. No tsunami can wash it away, no earthquake can swallow it, no thief or trespasser can get into it (and no, I don't need CCTV, alarms, security guards or boom gates). I dunno know exactly how we will get around the place, but I know for sure I won't need any Merc, BMW, Proton Saga or even a bicycle-made-for-two. As for clothes, hmmm, I am not too sure, but I think there is probably only 1 type of cloth available - fine linen, white and clean - and 1 fashion bling-bling robe of righteousness. With only 1 designer label attached to it - Jesus Christ. And that Name is sufficient for me to attend banquets and rub shoulders with all the VVIP saints on God's Who's Who list (don't need no special invit cards all). But most wonderful thought of all - that's the Name that admits me into the company and presence of God Himself on His throne.
No wonder Abraham chose to live in tents. Easy come, easy go on earth. But beyond earth, he saw, and is now living in 'his' something better. But coming back to my daughter, we are at it again, this year...considering the (crazy) times we live in... to buy or not to buy, to own or not to own......
"Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also".... Matthew 6:19-21
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