EAGER BEAVERS FOR THE FAITH

Once, I attended a pre-school, nursery, and kindergarten graduation. I was surprised to know that nowadays, all students get an award. I think that is part of the positive reinforcement learning method employed by schools today. One of the awards that struck me most is the "Eager Beaver Award." I looked at the boy who received it and told myself, "He does look like a beaver. But why should he receive such a beaver award?" Curiously, I asked their teacher what does that award mean. She answered, "Oh father, Eager Beaver Award is given to the student who is keen and enthusiastic, and works very hard." " Ah I see," I told the teacher, "the student who is as eager as a beaver." It pays to be eager nowadays. It may win you an award.

Our faith teaches us that we have to be eager for the coming of the Lord, the master of our life. Such eagerness demands from us diligence and total-dedication for the One whom we await. Thus, Jesus urges us: Gird your loins and light your lamps and be like servants who await their master’s return from a wedding, ready to open immediately when he comes and knocks. Blessed are those who are vigilant and eagerly awaits the Lord.

What could be our motivation to eagerly welcome the Lord into our life? We eagerly wait for the coming of the Lord as He holds the treasure that will complete us. I remember when I was a student, I would patiently wait for my father's coming from an early morning jeepney service. He brings with him our breakfast and our daily allowance. Like a father who would complete a child's day, the Lord comes to us to complete our life's desires and longing for wholeness. More than judgment, the Lord brings with Him love and mercy, and liberation from sin and death; freedom from the enslavement of this world. As the gospel says: He (the Master of the house) will gird himself, have them (the servants) recline at table, and proceed to wait on them (cf Lk 12:32-48). God himself is the treasure that will complete us. And if we see the Lord as the true treasure of our heart, though He may not yet be physically with us, He is already in our hearts and mind, for the things and persons we treasure most are the contents of our heart. 

With such knowledge that the Lord holds the treasure that will complete us, we place our faith in Him. We are made courageous by it. Though the night may cover us with darkness, we look forward to the dawning of His light to our life. We glow even in darkness for we possess in our heart that faith in the Light. A dark night simply passes over for those who faithfully and eagerly wait for the coming of dawn. As the Book of Wisdom says: The night of the Passover was known beforehand to our fathers, that, with the sure knowledge of the oaths in which they put their faith, they might have courage.

Abraham is our model of faith in the fulfillment of the promises of the Lord in our life. With total obedience to the faith in God, Abraham enjoyed what seemed to be impossible in his life: To have a son even in his old age, to have descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky, though a sacrifice of his son (Isaac) was demanded from him. He firmly believes that in the Lord nothing is impossible: God was able to raise (life) even from the dead. Faith, after all, is the realization of what is hoped for and evidence of things not seen (cf Heb 11:1-2, 8-19). His faithfulness in God enabled Abraham to eagerly wait for the fulfillment of God's promises in his life. His faith was never frustrated. And the story of fulfillment in the life of Abraham can be ours too if we keep the same faith he had; a firm and eager faith in the Lord; a faith that welcomes the master of the house, lest we think of God as the thief who will steal our "good" times and end our sinful ways. He is not a thief. Thus, we wait for the Lord to fulfill his promise. It may take time. We might be tempted to be the Lord of our life and do things by ourselves. He is the Master! He will never abandon us.

We have no reason to lose faith in God. Much has been given to us. We are given new life in Christ. We have an opportunity to be good persons. Jesus, the Son of God, is given to us, who sustains us. And to whom much is given, much is expected. The Lord expects something from us out of the things He had entrusted to us: Keep the faith; eagerly wait for the fulfillment of His promises to us. 

How shall we fulfill these expectations from us? By diligence and hard work! By becoming eager beavers of faith in God!

HUWAG MAGING TAMAD SA PAGTUPAD O PAGGANAP SA MGA HINIHINGI NG ATING PANANAMPALATAYA. Bakit tayo tinatamad at inaantok-antok, matamlay ang ating pananampalataya? Dahil di natin makita agad-agad ang resulta nito? Pero kung nandito yung loob natin, kung nakikita natin ang buhay natin dito sa pananampalatayang ito, di tayo maiinip o tatamarin sapagkat sa pananampalatayang tanggap at niyayakap natin, wala na tayong hahanapin pa. Ang paghihintay sa katuparan ng ating sinasamplatayahan ay siya na mismong katuparan ng ating pananampalataya.

Holding on to our faith in itself holds a reward and fulfillment. Instead of looking forward to the destiny, learn to enjoy the journey, for the journey itself is a reward. Our faith in God, the ultimate destination of our life, is manifested in how we go there; on how we eagerly wait for Him. The Lord will come. The Lord has come accompanying us in our journey towards Him.

Will you be eager beavers for the faith?

No medals await in the end.

Only the fulfillment of God's promises in your life.