The REAL Commitment

The story of Creation shows how man is inextricably bound to God. We were created in God’s image and likeness, He who is the Infinite Good and whom no one can come close to. Through the process of Creation, God graced us with the gift of life. As sons and daughters of God, we are therefore asked to respond through our faith. Easier said than done is what a lot of people would ordinarily say. In my preliminary reading of Genesis, I came upon the account of Sodom and Gomorrah and from this simple story derived my own personal realization of committing myself to what is good, ultimately, which is God. In this account, Abraham asked God if he would spare the destruction of the city if he found ten good people. God said he would spare the city for the sake of these people even if the number of the “bad” people would exceed the number of the “good”. Where does my realization come in here?

In a very symbolic manner, I’ve come to believe that the world is one big Sodom and Gomorrah, where sin prostitutes itself for man to take in without realizing that his actions continue to take him further away from God. At the same point of realizing this, I come to realize that the world stands possibly because of the few people committed to the direction of what is “good”. I cannot help but want to commit myself to be one of the few.

Nonetheless, there is another more blatant reason why the world still stands despite its descent into the oblivion of sin. The answer lies in the beautiful completion of God’s love for all of man, when he sent his son Jesus Christ to atone for the sins of mankind. We were redeemed even before we were born, and as an exchange we are only asked to do one thing as a response, which is to commit ourselves to Jesus, in being Christlike.

Of course, this response to a commitment so great can only stem from an initial decision to Love. We recognize that we were beings created by God out of love and in love. God in Himself IS love, and this is the foundation where our faith is built on. Thus, we become beings of love as well as beings in love. A Jesuit priest once said that “nothing is greater than falling in love with God, because once we do, it decides everything.” True enough, because it is only at this state that we become aware of the response and action we will have to undertake to profess this love we feel for God. We respond through our commitment because of our recognition of that love and our realization that we will only be fulfilled as human beings if we reach out to the Source of our being.

I think that this is basically what our life here on Earth is all about: Biblical narrations will always depict the image of a “journey to the Promised Land”. The Promised Land was first given to our first parents Adam and Eve, but was taken away from them when they gave in to sin and temptation. Life is one big journey back to this Promised Land. Our limited time here on Earth gives us the sufficient time and opportunity to travel back to the Father who created that. The end of our material life marks our arrival at the gates of the Promised Land, which can only be found in the realm of the infinite and the eternal, and therefore “out of this world”.

To my delight, and awe, my discovery of these things has made me more at peace with myself and the world around me. No longer do I seek aimlessly for my purpose in this world, because I know I was created to fulfill a personal purpose which only God mapped out for me. A sense of calmness overwhelms me and there is lightness in the gait of my walk… Because I know I’m taking a walk with Jesus as my guide and inspiration, walking toward the direction of God.