I Get To...

Background- I tore my wrist

As many of you would know, I tore my wrist a few months back. While it would make for a great story to say that my wrist was torn whilst I was at the gym, trying to hit a personal record, that could not have been further from the truth. In reality, I tore my wrist whilst helping my father-in-law carry his luggage up a flight of stairs. I heard a pop and soon my wrist was swollen with a limited range of motion. I was soon told that I would not be able to exercise for 6 weeks.

Truth be told, I was really afraid of the mandatory pause as I was worried of the uphill grind it would take to get me into the groove of working out consistently again. You see, each gym session comprised of a 15 minute walk to the gym, a 1 hour workout (if there were no queues for the equipment I was using), and a 15 minute walk back to my house. In fact there were days when I dreaded heading to the gym that I would look for an excuse not to go (“oh, it looks like it is going to rain” or “I’m quite tired today, I can make up for it tomorrow instead”). I did it because it was something planned by my coach that I felt that I had to do.

The Change

However, during the mandatory break, I chanced upon a video that changed my perspective on this. In that video, the instructor encouraged us to replace the words “I have to” with “I get to,” and that this would change how we viewed our tasks. Instead of saying “I have to go to the gym,” the phrase I kept telling myself was “I get to go the gym.” Indeed, I soon saw how going to the gym was actually a privilege that I had once viewed as a chore. I failed to see how I had been blessed to be able to have easy access to exercise equipment (this was not as easily accessible as early as 10 to 15 years ago), and how I was blessed to be able to work out relatively free from pain. I realized how blessed I was.  

Reflections

In this regard, have we counted our blessings today? Are we able to adopt the mentality of the psalmist in Psalm 66, who praised God for His many marvelous works, and for the blessings that he had received (amongst others)? Or have we taken so many of our blessings for granted, that we fail to give thanks for them?

Do we drag our feet on Sundays, thinking that we have to sit through worship and an hour of Bible study thereafter? It may be hard to believe but there are countries that are not able to freely practice Christianity. And yet, in those countries, Christians still abound. They worship under threat of persecution and death. And yet, they worship still. Have we forgotten about the early Christians who faced persecution because of their faith (as warned by the apostle Paul in 1 Thesalonians 3:2-5)? This stands in stark contrast with our ability to worship freely in Singapore. Do we “have to” go to Church on Sunday, or do we “get to” go to Church on Sunday?

Do we feel that we “have to” listen to the Bible classes and the sermons that are being preached? Have we forgotten that access to the Word of God was not so easily obtained? While we are now able to quickly search for information or applicable verses easily, the early Christians had to search the Scriptures daily, in order to determine if the preachers were speaking the truth (Acts 17:10-12). Have we forgotten that that we have access to the Bible today because of the efforts of earlier Christians who painstakingly copied the letters and books that contained the Word of God? Seen in this light, do we “have to” listen to Word of God, or do we “get to” do so?

Do we feel burdened when we “have to” give our offerings when the bags are passed around? Have we considered that we are blessed, being able to give more than the two mites that the poor widow gave (Luke 21:1-4), and still have enough for ourselves? Have we considered that the amount that we give is but a small portion of what God has richly blessed us with?  Do we feel blessed that we “get to” give our offerings, knowing that such amount will be used for the furtherance of the gospel, so that more can share in our inheritance of eternal life (1 Peter 1: 3-9)?

I strongly urge the readers of this article to take the time to sit down, and to go through this thought exercise, and to try replacing the phrase “I have to” with the phrase “I get to.” Don’t worry. You don’t have to do this, but you get to.