[:en]
CBDTI is a biennial youth conference, consisting of and alternately hosted by churches from Cebu, Bacolod, Dumaguete, Tacloban, and Iloilo City.
by D’Spare
As school days shifted to summer days, I find myself having practically nothing to do. Every day I would wake up late and dilly-dally on tasks given to me with no care at all. Priority-less, my days were filled with bumming around the house and sitting in the office of my parents and still, I was getting bored even with nothing, nothing, absolutely nothing to do. But how can I change my nothing into something?
It started when my Ninang (godmother) invited me to join this year’s CBDTI camp. I hesitated because I didn’t have much experience with conferences or camps. I told my mom I will do anything she wants me to do except to join the said conference yet not any amount of pleadings could make my mom change her mind. With no options left, I grudgingly went.
This year, the CBDTI Youth Summer Conference was entitled “PRIORI🕇Y”. It was the 18th CBDTI youth camp and was held at Leyte Park Resort Hotel in Tacloban City on May 28 to June 1, 2018.
When I arrived at the camp, I saw my Sunday School friends there and I also met a few acquaintances. The speakers and councilors spoke amazing truths from the Bible. The old and new songs we sung were awesome and refreshing. All my anxiousness began to fade away. Gradually, my days of nothingness soon became days filled with purpose and priorities.
In this camp, there were a few important points which I want to share with you, my church mates…
- First and foremost, I learned about the supremacy of Christ, which means Jesus having ultimate authority over our lives (Col 1:15-20). I also learned that true worship is not an action but also an attitude.
- Secondly, you must show priority to God by attending Sunday Worship, by offering the best and by devoting our whole being to God. We must also spend time with HIM and we must always have time for HIM.
- Thirdly, I also learned why we are tempted to sin (1 Corinthians 10:31) because we want to be accepted by the world (2 Timothy 2:4 and Galatians 1:10). We also want to avoid trouble (John 15:18-21) and to have our way in the world.
But because of these things, we may face consequences like our Christian testimony would be hurt or we will be lead to greater compromises (1 Kings 11:1) or God will withhold blessings from us.
In order to avoid sinning against God, we must spend time with the Lord. It means worshipping the Lord, and studying God’s word. To conduct ourselves as servants of the Lord, we must first submit fully to the will of the Lord, be a faithful steward of the Lord, prioritize the interest of the Lord, give all the honor and praise to the Lord, seek to please the Lord above all else.
Overall, I learn that since God is divine in all things, we must prioritize Him above everything. We have to prioritize Jesus through worship, we have to prioritize Jesus through time, we have to prioritize Jesus through service, and we must prioritize Jesus through conviction.
To give time for the Lord, we must eliminate unessential things, maintain a simple lifestyle as well as by prioritizing and spend time with HIM. As school days are fast approaching, I began to realize the importance of prioritizing tasks and spending time with the Lord.
I thank God for the opportunity to attend the camp this summer and it was something truly memorable and literally left MARKS that I could never forget.[:]