Buddhas

It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. 

Stand firm, then and do not let yourselves 

be burdened again by a yoke of slavery. 

Galatians 5:1

BUDDHAS-

There are so many Buddhas in Thailand.  I have just spent two days seeing the biggest and the best of them.  There is a solid gold buddha, an emerald one, a hundred foot reclining one, and thousands of others made from clay, gold and everything in between.  The country of Thailand has approximately 61 million people.  About 95% of the population are Buddhist so there is great national pride in their faith. There doesn't seem to be any "closet" Buddhists here and I am greatly impressed by theThai people who live out their faith with boldness and complete transparency. I have to admit, I am very humbled by their example.

In order to be able to speak to the Thai and Cambodian people about my faith, I tried to  learn as  much about the Buddhist faith as I could before I left home. When I arrived,  I added to that knowledge all you could learn in one day by asking a tour guide a million questions about his faith!  That poor man had no idea what he was in for when I got on the bus!  Like almost everyone else I met, he was happy to share his beliefs with complete confidence and boldness. It was very enlightening and helped me to prepare an answer to the question, “What are the differences between your faith and mine?”

Just to name a few…

Buddha sought out answers to the problem of suffering in the world. Jesus suffered for us and died. He was the answer.

Buddhists seek Nirvana, a place of complete balance. The emphasis is on being good with the hope that you may reach a higher place if, of course, you are good enough. The God of the Bible seeks reconciliation with man.  He is the pursuer of our soul.  He says we are now seated with Him in heavenly places.  We would never have been perfect enough on our own so He was perfect for us. 

Buddhism temples are very important.  People come from all over the world to pray to Buddha in these famous temples.  As Christians, we are the temple of the Holy Spirit.  God never leaves us.  There is no place we can go that He does not go with us.

Buddhists believe, the best they can hope for is to be reincarnated as something better than they are right now. Christians believe, this life on earth is appointed to us once and that's it. We get to spend eternity in heaven. Nothing is better than that.

I could go on and on..but you get the picture.  The Kingdom of Heaven is like this. We don't have to strive to be perfect, hope to be lucky, and pursue a God who does not speak to us.  What an amazing God we serve.

The creator of the universe, looked upon our dilemma and said," they will never make it to me, so I will go to them."

This is the kind of truth that sets people free.  With such good news I wonder why I sometimes struggle to boldly and unapologetically live out my faith back at home with a similar boldness as the Thai people.

Oh and by the way, the name Thailand means freedom! 

Looking forward,

Julie