A LITTLE TRIVIA ON "THE YEAR OF THE RAT"!
The Chinese, Year of the Rat, began last February 7th. It is the first sign in the
Chinese zodiac. Unlike the Western Hemisphere where the zodiac is monthly, each animal of the Chinese zodiac represents a full year. The Chinese zodiac is based upon the moon opposed to the western version, which is based on the sun’s revolutions. What does any of that have to do with the Rat?
Since we all know that our God is the creator of all things, including us, we have to assume that the Jade Emperor of the Heavens, according to the Chinese legend, is purely folk lore. The Emperor was undecided which animal should be first so he devised a plan that the first animal to cross the mighty river and reach the other side would be awarded the honor of representing the first year of the zodiac. The others would receive their year in the order of their arrival.
The story goes that as the animals stood on the bank of the river, the rat came up along side the ox. He jumped upon the ox’s back. The ox unaware of his passenger began his trek across the mighty river which was wide and treacherous. The ox was about to walk ashore when the rat leaped off his back and landed on shore seconds ahead of him. The Emperor declared the rat the winner. And now you know page two!
My husband Jim was born in 1936 which happens to have been ‘the year of the rat’. If you know my husband, you will agree that in China where the rat is respected and considered courageous and enterprising, he surely deserved the honor to be born that year.
I like a little trivia now and then, but if you think I believe that the sun, the moon and even the stars determine our character, you’ve got another think coming. As newborn babes in Christ 1 Peter 2:1-2 says; "Therefore, putting aside all malice and all guile and hypocrisy and envy and all slander, like newborn babes, we long for the pure milk of the word, that by it, you may grow in respect to salvation, if you have tasted the kindness of the Lord". In other words, putting aside all of the desires of the flesh and seeking the desires of your heart, which is God, you will grow in substance and because you will have tasted the Lord, salvation is yours. Character counts but without Jesus Christ it is nothing! The year of the rat may mean something to the Chinese, but living every year for Jesus brings more credence to the life of the Christian than anything you could ever imagined. Jane Ann