Matthew 16:26
For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul?
In the late 1940's two American teenage boys were growing up. They had the look of greatness about them, and every one who met them thought, "we'd better keep our eyes on these two kids - they'll go far". In College, they rose to become student leaders, respected and admired by peers and faculty alike.
Instead of living successful lives, they gave up their dreams and decided to commit a life of hardship as a missionary to Ecuador for God. One of them wrote out the driving force behind his seemingly foolish decision: "He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose ".
On the morning of 8 January 1956, those two young men, and three companions, climbed into an amphibious Piper airplane in Ecuador, South America. They flew half an hour out over the Amazon jungle, to an Indian village they had spotted just a few days earlier. They had made contact with this village before, and had successfully dropped gifts for the people in a specially designed bucket. They felt that now was the time to attempt to meet the villagers face to face, and were planning to land on the river.
The village was one of the villages of a tribe of Indians known as the Aucas. This was a name given to them by the surrounding Indian tribes – it means "savage". They were untouched by civilisation, and throughout the centuries had gained a reputation for being brutal, and killing all outsiders. These five young missionaries were hopeful that they would be able to make a breakthrough this morning.
As they approached the Indian village, they saw a large group of men coming to meet them. The waited as this group approached them. Then the leader of that group, a man named Guiquita Waewae gave a shouted command, and the villagers raised their spears, and savagely murdered the missionaries with their three-metre chonta wood spears.
When the men did not return to their base, a plane was sent to find them, and their bodies and wrecked plane were seen lying on the sandbar, in pools of blood. They died, murdered by the very people they came to love. They died in pain, without graves or any achievements to boast.
I don't know about you, but when I hear a story like that, I am humbled at my own puny attempt at living a Christian life. I wonder if I'm accountable to God for all that I have lived and done. If I die today or anytime in the next few days is there fulfillment of my life because I have been walking in the will and instructions of what God wanted me to? Am I able to truely say that I am living in the will of God and can embrace life and death like Paul and boast "For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain". (Philippians 1:21)
Unlike the missionaries of the story above, not many of us have this persepective that grips us to give up our dreams and live according to the intense heartbeat of Christ. Instead you and I willingly sacrifice anything in order to pursue after our future success and desires of life.
However, one thing we need to be sure, there will come a day where our life would end and we would stand before God and be made accountable for the life we have lived. Would we be able to say, "I have lived a life worthy of the calling of Christ and passed away with all Glory going to God" or would we only realise that we have lived a worldly life and forfeited our soul? By then, it will be too late to repent.
May we always be mindful to guard our souls from the eternal flames of hell, because there is no available means except we live a Christ-like life everyday of our life.
Blessings,
M.
"He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose" - Jim Elliot
Final Note:
A few years later, two of the wives of those missionaries had the privilege of being among the first outsiders to make contact with the Auca Indians. And the wife of the leading missionary that was murdered was able to lead Guiquita, the man who had killed her husband, to the Lord.
21 July 2006
12 July 2006
Standing firm. A sign of salvation
Philippians 1:27-30
Whatever happens, conduct yourselves in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ. Then, whether I come and see you or only hear about you in my absence, I will know that you stand firm in one spirit, contending as one man for the faith of the gospel without being frightened in any way by those who oppose you. This is a sign to them that they will be destroyed, but that you will be saved—and that by God.
For it has been granted to you on behalf of Christ not only to believe on him, but also to suffer for him, since you are going through the same struggle you saw I had, and now hear that I still have.
Ancient Israel’s King Solomon started off in life as one of the most impressive Godly man. I recall many sunday school lessons that pointed out the answer of Solomon to God when God appeared to him in a dream and spoke to him "Ask for whatever you want me to give you."
Humbled and with a heart full of love for God he gave the most impressive model answer beyond the ordinary man "give your servant a discerning heart to govern your people and to distinguish between right and wrong.For who is able to govern this great people of yours?" (1 Kings 3:9)
The bible records that God was so pleased with his answer that He blessed Solomon with a wise and discerning heart. Moreover, both riches and honor will be added, so that in Solomon's lifetime He will have no equal among kings. Throughout the sunday school lessons, we often marvelled at how awesome was Solomon's added bonus because he choosed to answer God humbly.
Contrasted this with my answers when as a young boy I told myself that if I ever get an Aladdin's lamp that entitled me to 3 wishes, I would use the wishes for superhuman powers, infinite resources and the last wish would be for more unlimited wishes.
Everything seemed right for Solomon after his life changing encounter with God in 1 Kings 3. Many years later, as he builds the finest temple for God, 1 Kings 9 records how the LORD appears to Solomon a second time and promises to bless him as long as he walks before God in integrity of heart and uprightness.
During the years of Solomon, he wrote wise Proverbs such as "Keep your heart with all diligence" (4:23) and "Wisdom rests in the heart of him who has understanding" (14:33).
Hoever, despite having been blessed with wisdom and knowing the connection between the heart and wisdom, 1 Kings 11 records a backsliden king who disobeyed God by marrying foreign women and end in corrupt sin.
"As Solomon grew old, his wives turned his heart after other gods, and his heart was not fully devoted to the LORD his God, as the heart of David his father had been. He followed Ashtoreth the goddess of the Sidonians, and Molech the detestable god of the Ammonites. So Solomon did evil in the eyes of the LORD; he did not follow the LORD completely, as David his father had done." (1 Kings 11:4-6)
How sorry it is to see a man who started so well, end in such a tragic state. However, starting well with God is not a guarantee of eternal salvation.
Paul in his letter to the Philippians highlighted the need for all Christians to remain steadfast and firm inspite of difficulties. In his letter above, he brings to mind the truth that the choice to stay in faithful to Christ in hard times is a given. Paul merely states the reality that because the standard of Christ are different from the world, we will need to suffer for Christ, but He would provide us with the strength and grace to endure. This is the same as the commands of Christ "If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me"
Whatever happens, may you conduct yourselves in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ that you may start and end strong. May others see the sign of Christ salvation in unwavering trust and faith.
Blessings, M
"Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master's happiness!" (Matthew 25:21)
06 July 2006
Sabbath - Fallowing of Your life
Exodus 23:10-12
For six years you are to sow your fields and harvest the crops, but during the seventh year let the land lie unplowed and unused. Then the poor among your people may get food from it, and the wild animals may eat what they leave. Do the same with your vineyard and your olive grove. "Six days do your work, but on the seventh day do not work, so that your ox and your donkey may rest and the slave born in your household, and the alien as well, may be refreshed. "
I recall studying in geography about the orang asli, people who practice shifting cultivation. As normadic dwellers, they go around and clear any suitable land for subsistence cultivation and live there for a couple of years. Without the use of fertilisers, after a few years, the nutrients of the land will soon be exhausted. Thus, they pack up, leave it to idle (fallow) and move onto another plot of land. Many years later, the original piece of land would regain its nutrients and moisture and be suitable for them to go back and use it.
Even in commercial farming, leaving the field idle to fallow for a period of time warrants an important role as it not only helps retains nutrients and moisture, it also reduces soil disturbing activities and allows for a time of rest. Thus all these helps ensure that the ground never goes barren and remains useful for continual cultivation of crops.
In the above passage, God leaves clear instructions to the people of Isreal to leave the ground to fallow for 1 year after 6 years of use. Likewise, the people, beasts of burdens and slaves were also to follow suit but in a timeframe of 1 day of rest for every 6 days of work. Compare this in light of the 10 Commandments which states
"Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the LORD your God. On it you shall not do any work, neither you, nor your son or daughter, nor your manservant or maidservant, nor your animals, nor the alien within your gates. For in six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but he rested on the seventh day. Therefore the LORD blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy."(Exodus 20:8-11)
When God created the universe, the bible records that for each day of creation, God saw all that he had made, and it was very good. On the 7 day, Genesis 2:2-3 records that God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it, because in it He rested from all His work which God had created and made.
God did not rest because He was exhausted from all that effort of creating. I believe that the Almighty God choosed to observe and take in the beauty of His perfect completion. Thus on the 7 day, there was nothing more to be done but to step back and observe the beauty functions and working splendour of His creation efforts. Thus, He blessed that day because it marked the completion of His majestic works
Haven't we all notice that when a school building or significant structure is built, it is not the installation days of the key elements that we commemorate and celebrate but the actual official date of completion when all can look, walk around and observe. Similarly this official opening celebration of creation was called the Sabbath.
We are not gods. All of creation needs rest. Even as we observe the needs of nature and its need to fallow to regain its strength and remain sustainable in the long run. How often we forget the importance of experiencing a Sabbath - a period where we can rest and allow the 'nutrients and moisture' that refreshes us and makes us strong again.
As we forge onwards in the pressures of the world, we must always remember the truth in Romans that we have to be set apart and are already given an inheritance of God's perfect will in our lives. "Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will." (Romans 12:2)
Sadly, how often it is that we forget that we are God's chosen and become ensnared by the systems, expectations and pressure of the world that we do everything like everyone else. When everyone rushes home to study for exams or complete their projects on our Sabbath, so do we. When everyone is panicking because the pressure is kicking in, so do we. When our human confidence fails and in our sight we are doomed, we choose to do all we can to save the situation but fail to throw ourselves and find refuge and restoration in the presence of the Almighty Creator God.
I believe whole-heartedly that if the day before the biggest exams/project/life-or-death situation rests on a Sunday, the person who chooses to abide in that Sabbath day will find himself/herself refreshed and restored in body, soul, spirit and mind. For God has decreed in the days of Moses and today that "Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the LORD your God. On it you shall not do any work".
Blessings
M.
"Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid." (John 14:27)
For six years you are to sow your fields and harvest the crops, but during the seventh year let the land lie unplowed and unused. Then the poor among your people may get food from it, and the wild animals may eat what they leave. Do the same with your vineyard and your olive grove. "Six days do your work, but on the seventh day do not work, so that your ox and your donkey may rest and the slave born in your household, and the alien as well, may be refreshed. "
I recall studying in geography about the orang asli, people who practice shifting cultivation. As normadic dwellers, they go around and clear any suitable land for subsistence cultivation and live there for a couple of years. Without the use of fertilisers, after a few years, the nutrients of the land will soon be exhausted. Thus, they pack up, leave it to idle (fallow) and move onto another plot of land. Many years later, the original piece of land would regain its nutrients and moisture and be suitable for them to go back and use it.
Even in commercial farming, leaving the field idle to fallow for a period of time warrants an important role as it not only helps retains nutrients and moisture, it also reduces soil disturbing activities and allows for a time of rest. Thus all these helps ensure that the ground never goes barren and remains useful for continual cultivation of crops.
In the above passage, God leaves clear instructions to the people of Isreal to leave the ground to fallow for 1 year after 6 years of use. Likewise, the people, beasts of burdens and slaves were also to follow suit but in a timeframe of 1 day of rest for every 6 days of work. Compare this in light of the 10 Commandments which states
"Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the LORD your God. On it you shall not do any work, neither you, nor your son or daughter, nor your manservant or maidservant, nor your animals, nor the alien within your gates. For in six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but he rested on the seventh day. Therefore the LORD blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy."(Exodus 20:8-11)
When God created the universe, the bible records that for each day of creation, God saw all that he had made, and it was very good. On the 7 day, Genesis 2:2-3 records that God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it, because in it He rested from all His work which God had created and made.
God did not rest because He was exhausted from all that effort of creating. I believe that the Almighty God choosed to observe and take in the beauty of His perfect completion. Thus on the 7 day, there was nothing more to be done but to step back and observe the beauty functions and working splendour of His creation efforts. Thus, He blessed that day because it marked the completion of His majestic works
Haven't we all notice that when a school building or significant structure is built, it is not the installation days of the key elements that we commemorate and celebrate but the actual official date of completion when all can look, walk around and observe. Similarly this official opening celebration of creation was called the Sabbath.
We are not gods. All of creation needs rest. Even as we observe the needs of nature and its need to fallow to regain its strength and remain sustainable in the long run. How often we forget the importance of experiencing a Sabbath - a period where we can rest and allow the 'nutrients and moisture' that refreshes us and makes us strong again.
As we forge onwards in the pressures of the world, we must always remember the truth in Romans that we have to be set apart and are already given an inheritance of God's perfect will in our lives. "Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will." (Romans 12:2)
Sadly, how often it is that we forget that we are God's chosen and become ensnared by the systems, expectations and pressure of the world that we do everything like everyone else. When everyone rushes home to study for exams or complete their projects on our Sabbath, so do we. When everyone is panicking because the pressure is kicking in, so do we. When our human confidence fails and in our sight we are doomed, we choose to do all we can to save the situation but fail to throw ourselves and find refuge and restoration in the presence of the Almighty Creator God.
I believe whole-heartedly that if the day before the biggest exams/project/life-or-death situation rests on a Sunday, the person who chooses to abide in that Sabbath day will find himself/herself refreshed and restored in body, soul, spirit and mind. For God has decreed in the days of Moses and today that "Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the LORD your God. On it you shall not do any work".
Blessings
M.
"Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid." (John 14:27)