经常在少年团契职员的祷告会听到这样的代祷事项：求主帮助我，使我更有纪律，能每天灵修。他们接着又会说他们到了读经、灵修的时间已经非常疲惫了，经常在还没有读完之前就睡着了。
最近我才恍然大悟，反过来问他们，为什么用自己最累的那段时间来赴上帝的约会呢？如果在事工上我们精益求精，愿意将自己最好的摆上，为什么到了将时间摆上的时候，我们竟然没有同样的意识呢？
把上好的时间献给主吧。
智者在传道书是持着这精神来劝勉我们：“当趁着你年幼，衰败的日子尚未来到……当记念造你的上主！”（传道书12：1） 在你还看得清楚的时候（12：2）、骨头牙齿还硬朗的时候（12：3）、耳朵还灵巧的时候（12：4）、头发还未苍白的时候（12：5）喜乐欢畅。
青少年时期是人生顶峰时期，是精力最旺盛、四肢最灵活、思维最敏锐的时候。在一生还未定型前，身体还未退化、衰败前，将身心奉献于主，让上帝用你一生之久，祝福与造就他人，这是何等美妙的一件事情！
把上好的时间献给主吧！
也许您会说，我已经不是少年人了，最好的时期已经过去了。想想：在世仅剩的年日，今天也许最灿烂！
“趁今年，趁今天，我要为主歌唱；
现在就是最好时光，让我为主歌唱！”
Tuesday, May 25, 2010
Sunday, May 23, 2010
The two incidents
I've thought of 2 incidents which I believe will be interesting if they are placed side by side. Namely, the construction of the Tower of Babel and the day of Pentacost.
Now the whole world had one language and a common speech. As men moved eastward, they found a plain in Shinar and settled there. They said to each other, "Come, let's make bricks and bake them thoroughly." They used brick instead of stone, and tar for mortar. Then they said, "Come, let us build ourselves a city, with a tower that reaches to the heavens, so that we may make a name for ourselves and not be scattered over the face of the whole earth."
But the LORD came down to see the city and the tower that the men were building. The LORD said, "If as one people speaking the same language they have begun to do this, then nothing they plan to do will be impossible for them. Come, let us go down and confuse their language so they will not understand each other."
So the LORD scattered them from there over all the earth, and they stopped building the city. That is why it was called Babel —because there the LORD confused the language of the whole world. From there the LORD scattered them over the face of the whole earth. (Genesis 11:1-8)
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When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place. Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting. They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them. All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them.
Now there were staying in Jerusalem God-fearing Jews from every nation under heaven. When they heard this sound, a crowd came together in bewilderment, because each one heard them speaking in his own language. Utterly amazed, they asked: "Are not all these men who are speaking Galileans? Then how is it that each of us hears them in his own native language? Parthians, Medes and Elamites; residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya near Cyrene; visitors from Rome (both Jews and converts to Judaism); Cretans and Arabs-we hear them declaring the wonders of God in our own tongues!" (Acts 2:1-11)
While God has the power to drive apart people, he also has the power to bring people together for his purposes. May we find true unity in Christ, live by the Spirit and do all things for His glory.
Now the whole world had one language and a common speech. As men moved eastward, they found a plain in Shinar and settled there. They said to each other, "Come, let's make bricks and bake them thoroughly." They used brick instead of stone, and tar for mortar. Then they said, "Come, let us build ourselves a city, with a tower that reaches to the heavens, so that we may make a name for ourselves and not be scattered over the face of the whole earth."
But the LORD came down to see the city and the tower that the men were building. The LORD said, "If as one people speaking the same language they have begun to do this, then nothing they plan to do will be impossible for them. Come, let us go down and confuse their language so they will not understand each other."
So the LORD scattered them from there over all the earth, and they stopped building the city. That is why it was called Babel —because there the LORD confused the language of the whole world. From there the LORD scattered them over the face of the whole earth. (Genesis 11:1-8)
_________________________________________________________________________________
When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place. Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting. They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them. All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them.
Now there were staying in Jerusalem God-fearing Jews from every nation under heaven. When they heard this sound, a crowd came together in bewilderment, because each one heard them speaking in his own language. Utterly amazed, they asked: "Are not all these men who are speaking Galileans? Then how is it that each of us hears them in his own native language? Parthians, Medes and Elamites; residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya near Cyrene; visitors from Rome (both Jews and converts to Judaism); Cretans and Arabs-we hear them declaring the wonders of God in our own tongues!" (Acts 2:1-11)
While God has the power to drive apart people, he also has the power to bring people together for his purposes. May we find true unity in Christ, live by the Spirit and do all things for His glory.
Tuesday, May 4, 2010
Amazing Grace (from an amazing voice)
Inaccurate lyrics aside (it's Taiwan, so...), great voice and extremely skillful musical expression - an immensely beautiful rendition.
Something to think about: Does it matter whether he knew the meaning of the lyrics?
Saturday, May 1, 2010
Meditation on labor
*clears up the cobwebs*
Hi all. I came here to share about my meditations on labor on Labor day.
Let us look at a few passages.
When the LORD God made the earth and the heavens and no shrub of the field had yet appeared on the earth and no plant of the field had yet sprung up, for the LORD God had not sent rain on the earth and there was no man to work the ground, but streams came up from the earth and watered the whole surface of the ground the LORD God formed the man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being. (Genesis 2:4b-7)
God created us and desires for us to work, not for ourselves but for Him. Initially, it may refer to manual work to maintain this creation. Now we should consider it as general work and work to keep things running, in a way to help to maintain the society and economy.
God desires us to be his co-worker. That being said, he is not handing all the work to us but working alongside with us. Systematically the passage showed that God did his part by damping the ground with water in the streams, before creating man as solutions (v6) to the problems mentioned in the preceding verse (v5).
Next passage I want to share will be Ecclesiastes 3:9-15.
What does the worker gain from his toil? I have seen the burden God has laid on men. He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the hearts of men; yet they cannot fathom what God has done from beginning to end. I know that there is nothing better for men than to be happy and do good while they live. That everyone may eat and drink, and find satisfaction in all his toil—this is the gift of God. I know that everything God does will endure forever; nothing can be added to it and nothing taken from it. God does it so that men will revere him. Whatever is has already been, and what will be has been before; and God will call the past to account.
Here King Solomon also sees work as a God-given task. I believe God wants us to appreciate the beauty of His work and and so we should make our work beautiful too. God wants us to enjoy working for him and view work as a gift from Him. Therefore, we need to thank God for work.
The last point is that God does all that he does for us because he wants us to revere Him and hence, all that we do should be an act of reciprocating his love for us. That being said, through work we can be a good testimony to God. May it bring others to revere Him too.
Let us do all our part for Him in reverence of Him. If work is not done for Him and our satisfaction is not derived from Him, everything that we are pursuing are but vanities; All is vanity and grasping for the passing wind.
Hi all. I came here to share about my meditations on labor on Labor day.
Let us look at a few passages.
When the LORD God made the earth and the heavens and no shrub of the field had yet appeared on the earth and no plant of the field had yet sprung up, for the LORD God had not sent rain on the earth and there was no man to work the ground, but streams came up from the earth and watered the whole surface of the ground the LORD God formed the man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being. (Genesis 2:4b-7)
God created us and desires for us to work, not for ourselves but for Him. Initially, it may refer to manual work to maintain this creation. Now we should consider it as general work and work to keep things running, in a way to help to maintain the society and economy.
God desires us to be his co-worker. That being said, he is not handing all the work to us but working alongside with us. Systematically the passage showed that God did his part by damping the ground with water in the streams, before creating man as solutions (v6) to the problems mentioned in the preceding verse (v5).
Next passage I want to share will be Ecclesiastes 3:9-15.
What does the worker gain from his toil? I have seen the burden God has laid on men. He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the hearts of men; yet they cannot fathom what God has done from beginning to end. I know that there is nothing better for men than to be happy and do good while they live. That everyone may eat and drink, and find satisfaction in all his toil—this is the gift of God. I know that everything God does will endure forever; nothing can be added to it and nothing taken from it. God does it so that men will revere him. Whatever is has already been, and what will be has been before; and God will call the past to account.
Here King Solomon also sees work as a God-given task. I believe God wants us to appreciate the beauty of His work and and so we should make our work beautiful too. God wants us to enjoy working for him and view work as a gift from Him. Therefore, we need to thank God for work.
The last point is that God does all that he does for us because he wants us to revere Him and hence, all that we do should be an act of reciprocating his love for us. That being said, through work we can be a good testimony to God. May it bring others to revere Him too.
Let us do all our part for Him in reverence of Him. If work is not done for Him and our satisfaction is not derived from Him, everything that we are pursuing are but vanities; All is vanity and grasping for the passing wind.
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