Hey everyone, sorry this took so long, time to dive into another day at the retreat! You ready? Let's go!!
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We rose early, it was going to be a warm day, albeit the rather windy and chilly morning. We had waffles with homemade whipped cream, blueberry compote, and mixed berry compote. It was great. We also had a scoop of oatmeal for starters.
Then we had an activity. We wanted to go canoeing again, but the windy morning discouraged me and my friend, so we went for another round of archery instead.
There was a rabbit basking in the sun and nibbling dew sweetened grass, I almost killed it, it was so used to humans that it didn't even budge. We had to physically chase it off the range. Fantastic.
Lunch was a Make it yourself wrap thingy, we had a lot of wraps on the retreat. Once again, there was a veggie platter with dip waiting for us. Dessert was brownies baked in the form of cupcakes. No icing though. The top part of the brownie was really good, as it should be.
Then we went canoeing, well, we tried to at least, there were so many people that they had to cut out those who had done canoeing once in the past days. That included me. So we went to their new triple zipline. It was fun, not very fast, but it did feel like I was flying. I was one of the few that wasn't scared of heights.
We also took some pictures during free time, here they are:
Dinner was chicken burgers and cupcakes for dessert. I wasn't a big fan of the cupcakes, I was too full to eat one anyway.
Today is the day where there were two sessions, the first of which is going to be in this post, the second will be in another.
The session here is one after lunch...
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Session #2 Freedom from what?
(Luke 18:13-30) - The conversation with a young rich ruler
Our speaker opened us up with a story of how some Asian countries trap monkeys. The contraption consists of a hole that is wide enough for the monkey's hand to go in, but there are some food items inside the trap that monkeys love very much. Once the monkey grabs the food, its hand is locked in a fisted position, which is too big to fit through the hole again. All the monkey has to do to be free again is to let go of the food it's holding on to.
Is this comparable to our lives? Being constricted or trapped because we can't let go of some things?
Then we dove into the scripture. The passage tells of a rich young ruler confronting Jesus about how he should live a holy and right life. Jesus asks him what he is doing righteously right now, and the rich ruler answers with a few of the commandments from the old testament.
Jesus does not say anything to oppose that, instead, he agrees with the young ruler, only to add one more commandment on top - give your riches to the poor and needy.
The young ruler immediately became very sorrowful, because he is still holding onto his wealth and possessions. Even though the ruler is a good person, he still cannot do what Jesus asks him to.
Indeed, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the Kingdom of Heaven.
With the promise of eternal life and salvation, will you still hold on to something more than you would hold on to Jesus?
Obviously, it is easier said than done, even now, I still hold on to earthly things more than I would like to hold on to Jesus. It is definitely challenging to let go of things that we love.
But Jesus did say, "What is impossible with man is possible with God."
Jesus is always offering us help, and sometimes we need to rely on that steady hand, hang on to that help. Don't just let go of the worldly things, let go so you can hold on to Jesus instead.
Doesn't that sound like freedom? Freedom is letting go and holding onto God's waiting, loving hand, His great hand is an anchor so that we can safely be free of our bondage and let go without fear.
God's love is never forcing, in fact, in the passage, Jesus was inviting the young ruler to join him in the Kingdom of Heaven. Jesus never forced the rich person to do anything. God's love never forces, His invitation is love.
Are you ready to let go of your earthly possessions and go hold onto Jesus?
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Small group question!!!
1. Where do I see myself in the rich young ruler, but don't want to see myself in him anymore?
We went through a couple of things, including a life of comfort, materialism, and spiritual pride. I personally said spiritual pride.
Life of comfort: It's easy to live a life of comfort, especially in Canda where resources are plenty. But sometimes it makes us too comfortable, and we are unwilling to step out of this comfort zone to help serve others.
Materialism: Similar stuff, we are able to get many things, especially things that we want. We often become selfish and neglect the needs of others because of this.
Spiritual Pride: Something that I sometimes struggle with, it is a kind of sin that really affects how you serve, we always think that we can rely on ourselves and forget that we should rely on God when we serve. The result by man alone often isn't the greatest, I can say that this is true because I lead worship. God is so important in how you serve.
2. What is one thing that I want to let go of and hold onto God instead of during the retreat?
We didn't get to this one, but answer in the comments, or add this to your devotion journals or something. It's a nice question to reflect on.
Self-reflection!!
What do I want freedom from today?
Personally, I want to be free from my social anxiety disorder, which is mild but I still get panic attacks sometimes. What are your shackles?
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So that does it for this day of retreat, next post will be pure session, no diary entry. So yeah.
Stay tuned and
BYEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!!!!
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