9 July 2023
A son asked his father a question. “Three frogs were sitting by the pond. One frog decided to jump into the pond. How many frogs were left at the side of the pond?” The father replied: “Two.” “Wrong!” The son replied. The father quickly said: “Ah! I know, it’s none left. Because the other two followed the example of the first frog.” “Wrong again! The answer is three,” said the son “a decision remains a decision until the action is carried out.”
So often we have many things that we want to do but had been pushing them back for one reason or another. But we know deep within us that the delays were cause mainly by our commitment to them. We have all the good intentions to do so. Only problem is that good intention remains good intention. It is not put into action. We give ourselves too many excuses, so much so that nothing moves.
There are many of us who long for a deep relationship with the Lord. But often the cares and worries of the world stop us from doing so. However, relationship with the passing temporal things of the world seems to be able to proceed on without deterrence. I wonder if we had taken the gift of eternal life too lightly, and so do not treasure it. Eternal life was freely given, but God had to pay an extremely heavy price for us.
We must not take it for granted. Remember that nobody wins a prize without completing the race. To complete the race is not that difficult either. We just need to cling close to the Lord. He did not say that we cannot enjoy the things of the world. We just need to put some priority into knowing God in a more intimate way. Building relationship needs both hands to clap. God is always doing His part. The question is, therefore, are we doing our part?
Let us make a full commitment and put that into action. Stop making excuses. Trust and obey is the only way to cling tightly to Jesus. We need to stop enjoying the heavy yoke, and start to enjoy the light and easy yoke of Jesus.
God bless,
In Christ’s service,
Barry Leong
有一个儿子问他的父亲一个问题:“三只青蛙坐在池塘边。其中一只决定跳入池中。请问池塘边还留下几只青蛙?”父亲回答说:“两只。”“错!”儿子回答。父亲赶快说:“啊!我知道,没有留下一只。因为其他两只会跟随第一只青蛙跳入。”“又错了!答案是:三只。”儿子回答“因为决定仍旧只是决定,除非它付诸行动。”
我们经常有许多我们想要完成的事,但却因为各种理由将它们耽搁了。其实我们深知这些耽延主要在乎我们对事情的委身。我们的用意原是好的。唯一的问题是好的用意仍旧是好的用意,它并没有付诸于行动。我们给自己太多的藉口,以致一无所成。
我们当中有很多人都渴望与主有更深切的关系,但是世上许多的关注及担忧却拦阻了我们。然而,我们对世上短暂易逝的事物却能够毫无阻碍的持续关系。我猜想是不是我们已经把永生的礼物看得太随意,以致我们并不珍惜它。永生是白白赐给的,但上帝却要为我们付上了极重的代价。
我们不能视之为理所当然的。要牢记没有人可以不完成竞赛就能赢得奖品。要完成竞赛其实也不是一件难事。我们只需要紧靠着主。祂并没有说我们不能享受世上的事物。我们只需要优先考虑以更亲密的方式去认识上帝。建立关系是双向的,上帝一直都在作祂要作的,问题是,我们是否尽了我们该尽的本分?
让我们全然委身并付诸于行动。不要再找藉口了。信靠与顺服是我们紧靠耶稣的唯一方式。我们需要停止享受劳苦的重担,开始享受耶稣那轻省的担子。
上帝赐福,
在基督里同工的,
Barry Leong
(林秀娟会吏翻译)