Rebellion

No, it's not a post on my kids ;-D

Our cell group is studying the life of David. Last week, we read that Saul disobeyed the instructions from Prophet Samuel by sparing the life of the king of the Amalekites as well as the best livestock. Saul gave excuses when confronted and Samuel had this to say:

"For rebellion is like the sin of divination and arrogance like the evil of idolatry." (I Samuel 15:23)

We learned that rebellion is "a means by which we attempt to set the course of our futures", which explains why Samuel compared it to divination or witchcraft which "attempts to foretell or sway the future".

This surprise revelation led our cell to discuss the various "lesser" degree of rebellious acts through which we attempt to sway the future. For example:

Do you:

1. read the horoscope so that you know what to expect/avoid/do more?
2. get a professional to give a Chinese name to your kids based on their birthdate, number of strokes in the Chinese characters, the elements (Gold, Wood, Water, etc) so that your kids' good future is secured?
3. not welcome someone who is in the mourning period into your house so that he/she doesn't bring bad luck to you?
4. avoid sweeping the floor on the first day of CNY so as not to "sweep away" your wealth?
5. bring a mascot/lucky charm into the exam hall or eat one sausage and 2 eggs (100 marks get it?) so that your exam results will be good?
6. avoid swimming during the Hungry Ghost festival presumably protecting yourself against unseen forces active in the pool?

etc, etc, etc

I'm not guilty of those examples I listed above, hogwash I would say but I'm sure there are other acts which I've unconsciously practised. I think as Christians, we have to be constantly aware that even everyday customs/practices, however, trivial, do reflect on our relationship with God. For example, I can be following a tradition to wear new clothes on CNY but I'm doing it to celebrate the newness of life, and not because it would bring me good luck in the new year. There are many applications in Facebook that I see many of my younger friends adding - horoscopes, predictions, etc. I hope it is for the fun of it. But really, there is nothing funny when we place our hopes in these things and relegate God to second place.

Let's not rebel - rest our hope on God, period.