HAVING A FAITH
／By Thomas H. Woo
A couple who bought a new house in a new upscale residential
development was recently featured in a newspaper article. Buying a new
house is not a big deal. It happens everyday! What made it newsworthy?
The new owners wanted to change its house number. The house originally
was numbered as 104, but the new owners wanted it change to 106, because
the phonic sound of "104" literally means "certain death" in Mandarin.
The change would make the house numbering system of this particular
street out of sequence, and the lower County's regulatory agencies
rejected the request for the change. The owners appealed the rejections
all the way to the County Council, the highest law-making body of a
county. Being sensitive to political correctness, the County Council
granted the change as one's custom. To me, it seemed more of the owners'
superstition than anything else. (This particular street doesn't have
any house numbered 104). It is definitely the new owners' custom and
is not the custom of all people who have the same racial extraction
as theirs.
Having so much concern over the phonic sound of a house number
clearly indicated that these new home owners lacked a faith. Had they
have a faith in our most wonderful Lord, Jesus Christ, they would not
have to worry about this insignificant, petty phonic sound of a house
number. As Psalm 18:2 says "God is our shield", He protects us against
all evils! Having a faith, they should have enjoyed their new house,
despite of the phonic sound of its number. Only the pursuit of the word
of our Lord will bring us physical and spiritual strength to meet all
challenges in our lives.
