I was in the MRT this morning. In the first train, before I change to another, a young lady walked in with her backpack on her back. The small pouch on the back pack was not zipped up and all the expensive belongings were exposed. They can be easily removed without her knowing in a packed train. After much deliberation within myself, I told her. She zipped up the bag promptly and kept quiet. Upon changing to another train, another lady came into the packed carriage with her handbag fully opened. She was fully engrossed on her other phone. Yes, she has two phones. I know because I saw the other phone along with her purse and other valuables. Again, this makes it easy for any pickpocket.

Keeping your belongings safe is a simple thing that we should be doing. But many are too distracted in the things around them that they don’t do it. There are many people who got scammed because they want to get the cheaper ‘luxury’ goods. The scammed amount had totalled to be a large amount. Meaning many people were careless. Do not blame it on the type of phone used, blame it on yourself. My mother, when she was walking this earth, taught me that one is unlikely to be cheated if one is not greedy.

Brothers and sisters, do not be distracted by the world. It can be anything, phone contents or situations around you. Be alert as not to be deprived of some of worth to you. I am always amazed and sad for the people who ‘lose’ their children in shopping malls. Why can’t they just pay a little attention?

Well, my brothers and sisters, the world will distract you from following God in a meaningful way. In this very colourful world, there are many ‘wonderful’ things to catch up with. God will usually be the one that many will put aside first. This will result in a very sad ending for whoever does this. The only way to go is God first, all others come second. Then and only then will everything fall into their proper places. Life will then be beautiful with the most wonderful blessings in place.

God bless,
In Christ’s service,

Barry Leong

今早我在地铁里。在我转换到另一线地铁之前，一个年轻的女孩背着她的背包进到了地铁。这一个背包的一个小口袋的拉链没有拉上导致所有贵重的物件都曝光。人们很容易在如此拥挤的地铁里偷走这些贵重物件。我在内心里斟酌许久之后，就示意她要拉上小口袋的拉链。她立刻拉上口袋的拉链后就保持安静。在我准备转换地铁线的时刻，另一个女孩子提着开大口的手提包来到拥挤的车厢里。她全神贯注于她的另一只手机。是的，她有两只手机。我知道因为我看到了另一只手机和钱包以及其他贵重的物件。这又再成为小偷的目标。

你将贵重的东西保管好是一件我们应当做的简单的事。但是很多人被周围的事物所分心导致无法做到。很多人被诈骗因为他们要得到便宜的奢侈品。这些诈骗的总数可以汇成一个天文数字。这意思是有太多人粗心大意。不要责怪使用手机的类型，应当怪罪自己。当我母亲还在世的时候，教导我若我不贪心就不会被欺骗。

弟兄姐妹，不要被世界所诱惑。这可以是任何东西，电话的内容或是你所遭遇的情况。总要警醒，不要轻易失去对你有价值的物件。我对那些在商场里弄“丢”自己的孩子感到诧异和伤心。为什么他们无法专注一点？

是的，我亲爱的弟兄姐妹，这世界会使你不专注行在上帝的道路。在这一个多姿多彩的世界中，实在有很多“美好”的东西令人向往。上帝往往是许多人最先放在一边。这会促使这样做的人陷入悲惨的结局。唯一正确的做法是上帝第一，其他次要。这样，也只有这样，其他东西才会归到正确的位置上。生命才会拥有被祝福充满般的绚烂色彩。

上帝赐福,
在基督里服事的,

Barry Leong

（林忠彬传道翻译）