Disclaimer: The sharing is pure from my personal view; therefore, please don’t take it to be absolute. Thanks.
Looking at the scene of impacted homes and roadways at my hometown from the TV screen, I shook my head thinking how could a tropical storm causes such damage – numerous home were flooded, many got hurt and some even lost their lives. The culprit, as many believe, is due to sudden rampageous rain compounded by insufficient and malfunctioned sewer drainage system, around the area. At this time, the usual scene of finger-pointing by local and central government officials appeared. Isn’t this similar to the scene in the book of Genesis among Adam, Eve and the Serpent?
This incident brings up many questions. Since most people acknowledge the mother nature of the storm is uncontrollable by human hands, the key question is then circling around “Who should be responsible for the sewage system problem?” To me, the root cause is truly a personal integrity issue. This includes both government officials and the general public – how commit is the government officials in performing their duty in protecting the general public and how well the general public would follow government’s regulations without blocking the sewage system / overdeveloping natural resource.
In the Gospel of Matthew, Jesus teaches His disciples about the wise and foolish builders (Matthew 7:24-28). A wise builder is who listens to Jesus’ words and puts them into practice, whereas a foolish builder is the one listens to Jesus’ words and does not put them into practice. In the case of sewage system at my hometown, a person who is committed in doing his / her duty responsibly at his / her position can be called a wise builder. The end result, as is indicated by Jesus, is a house on the rock – when rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock (Matthew 7:25).
My dear brothers and sisters, as we are Jesus Christ’s followers, we need to ask ourselves constantly the question, “Am I a wise or a foolish builder?” One day, we will stand before Him and He can ask the same question from us. May we put His words into practice!