Why I Love Flags
by Oliver Carlos
When I was a little boy, I was so fascinated with flags of different countries. After learning how our Philippine flag looks, I wondered how the flags of other countries looked like. My curiosity was further fueled when I saw some of them printed at the back of the cardboard box of the snack that my Mommy would buy for me. I think it was some chocolate-coated cookies or pretzels that had them. So I started collecting those boxes.
Finally, my thirst for that knowledge was quenched when my Mom bought me a set of encyclopedia in the early 1980s. The encyclopedia had individual entries for each country, with a picture of their national flag and map for an introduction. I read through all the volumes because I wanted to see their flags.
Every United Nations Day became a joy to me because I get to see our school flooded with the flags of different nations. There came a time when I was able to memorize all those flags, and if one would quiz me, I would be able to identify them all.
Later in life, I learned that it’s not only me who loved to see flags flying around. God also loves what I love. He loves all the people of the earth regardless of their color, culture and country. The Bible says that in John 3:16 (NIV). Furthermore, God wanted them saved. He wanted them to be with him for eternity in heaven.
In Philippians 2:6–8 (NIV), we can read how Christ left heaven and lived among humans, died on the cross to pay for our sins, so that we would be saved from going to hell. That story is called the Gospel. That is the Good News that God wanted all nations to hear. The Good News is good news indeed! There is a way, a one-and-only way to be saved, and it is for free. One just had to accept God’s offer by saying a simple but sincere prayer of repentance from one’s sins, and receiving the new start, the new life in Christ. By having full trust in Christ’s saving power, one gets truly saved. It will get proven on the last day when Jesus returns. Thus, being saved is a matter of faith.
Since Jesus’ time, the Gospel has spread slowly but steadily across the globe. When I was in college in the late 1980s, a big prayer request in the prayer meetings I attended was the spreading of the Good News to all people. During that time, there were still many nations who haven’t heard of the Gospel yet. Some countries were closed, and Christians were even persecuted there. But beginning in the 1990s, many world events happened that opened the doors of these countries to allow Christian missionaries into their borders to share the Good News.
In the 2000s, advancements in science and technology aided the spreading of the Gospel more and more. Because of the internet and social media, a lot more people get to read and hear Bible verses and Bible lessons easily and quickly. More and more people from all nations are getting saved these days. Jesus mentioned this in Matthew 24:14 (ICB):
“The Good News about God’s kingdom will be preached in all the world, to every nation. Then the end will come.”
We don’t know the exact date and time when Jesus would come, but one thing we are assured of is that he will surely come to end all pain and suffering, and bring us to be with him forever, we from all nations who have accepted him as Lord and Savior. Let us rejoice in this good news!
