Sometime
ago, I was trimming my son's nails and then he asked, "Mummy why
does this, though small, make noise?" He was wondering why there
was sound coming from such trivial activity and with small objects.
My response to him – it’s not always about the size of a thing
but what it is made of.
Then
I went on to explain various types of materials and their properties.
I also mentioned different sizes of things that could be made from
them and their varying strengths or capacity to produce sound when
broken or cut. As I explained, I was reminded that our 'size' or what
others see is not all there is to us. Infact our parts which cannot
be seen actually define us, distinguish us from others and determine
how we ‘make noise’ when being broken or cut.
There
are a number of parts to who we are, but an important one is what we
believe. What we believe about ourselves, what we believe about
others, what we believe about life (and many life issues), what we
believe about what we see and what we believe about life beyond this
life. But most importantly is what we believe about the One who made
us, His thoughts about us and plans for us.
The
truth is, we live life and deal with what it throws at us based on
what we believe. If you want to stir change in your life or others,
you need to start with the belief system. I know what I believe, do
you?
A
story many know comes to mind, about the wise man and the foolish man
who built houses. The wise man built his on the rock and foolish on
sand. When the storm came, the house on the sand collapsed but the
one on the rock stood firm. The story did not say any of the houses
was built with poor materials but it was clear that their foundations
differentiated them. So our foundation is also as important as what
we believe. Personally, I recommend building all of life on that
which is permanent especially the eternal. Temporary things are not
only short term but wreck and waste the best of efforts and
resources.
As
we continue in the year, with the opportunities for the new and for
change, let's be challenged to review our beliefs and also become
more conscious of them. Let us also ensure our lives (attitudes,
values, dreams and works) are based on foundations that will stand
the test of time, in particular with eternal value.
