First off, I hope everyone reading this finds themselves well. I was going to do a picture review of India but for whatever reason, I can’t upload the pictures. However, after arriving in Nepal and having some free time for debrief, there are many interesting emotions that have arisen. Nepal was the country I was most looking forward to on this journey and with that has become the most difficult place by far in terms of temptation. I figured India would be the hardest due to it being the first, but in a way the lack of autonomy made it easier to focus on God and the task at hand. Being in Kathmandu for the first few days, juxtaposed with seeing the Himalayas from the airplane of course fights for my heart for the idea of being in the mountains. While there is certainly nothing wrong with exploring God’s beauty, I am so often reminded of Paul talking about the sin in worshiping the creation over the Creator, and I am here to serve the latter.
I recall the second night in the city, while I was still wondering after adventure, I had a troubling dream. While the imagery is interesting, it is not as significant as the darkness that was in it. I feel God gives us, or at least permits us to experience certain things to get our attention and this was no different. Being in India, and now Nepal, I have been given a lot of exposure to the Hindu religion, and as of late Buddhist philosophy. And while I am not going to use this blog as a sword against other world views and I do have a certain respect for people who are devoted to a faith and strive to do good, I am reminded of Luke 18: 18, 19 in which Jesus says none is good except for God. With that thought, a few of us visited the Pashupatinath Temple, which was where people of the Hindu faith are cremated then placed in the river. Out of respect for those who lost loved ones and saw them off in that manner, it will do no good to speak of that practice, other than the same feeling I had in my dream was the same emotion that arose around that area.
From that I begin to think of the witness of Christianity and what Paul says in Galatians 5, namely verses 16 through 26. He lists all of the attributes of walking after the flesh and to what that leads, to wit: adultery, fornication, jealousy, self-ambitions, wrath, strife, etc. Paul then goes on to mention the qualities of walking in the Spirit such as love, joy, peace, meekness, faith, and kindness. While most everyone can agree the qualities of the Spirit led life are righteous and the fleshly life are sin, I am so reaffirmed in the Christian witness of the latter is the life Jesus led. He did not just instruct us to live in that way; rather He led by example. Rather than a pure legalistic approach to abstaining from or denying the flesh, God is saying His Spirit will call us higher to strive towards love, joy, and peace. Lastly, I think to 1 Peter 3: 15 which states, sanctify the Lord God in your hearts, and be ready to give an answer to every man that asks the reason for the hope within you with meekness and reverential awe, and that is my desire this month in Nepal. I am not here to discredit a religion or philosophy; rather, I am here to carry His light so that others may be drawn to the hope we all have as Christians in Him, and share the love He has shown to all of us with respect of others and in awe of Him.
Lastly, the affirmation to this blog is that the passages I have mentioned are the ones we in our nightly rooftop Bible study unwittingly decided to read. As always, I send my deepest thanks and gratitude to all those who are sharing in this journey and I ask your continued prayers that God’s kingdom will continue to be grown and His hope and freedom will be shared.
