Today, I am touched with the fact that Christian life can be so diverse. There are Christians who are materially rich as well as those who are poor. There are those who are intellectual and those who are not. Paupers and kings; masters and slaves.
How can people of such diverse circumstances have the same God and the same Lord? If we see this life which we have at present, this temporal life as being the end sum, then we cannot understand. But to God, this is just a passing phase. This life which we have, is both a training and a test to the life after. And God train and test us differently according to what plans He has for us. I am sure there are different roles for us even in the next life. And so God refine us and prepare us to be able to fulfill those various roles.
We see a little of these roles in the church today. Not all are evangelists, not all are teachers, not all are pastors etc. So shall it be in the age to come. There will be many roles for us to take up. But the training, the preparation, the qualification is now.
When we look at things this way, we see how God takes special care to train His servants. The trials, the anguish, the sufferings, the battles, the pressure; all have a significant purpose.
We can also see a little picture of this in the book of Revelation. How God allows the different churches to be tested differently. How there are different promises given to each one of them and each one of us, if we overcome. Yes, if we overcome.
May we all strive in the Lord to overcome all that He allows us to face.
Sunday, August 29, 2010
Wednesday, August 18, 2010
Losing your first love
After so many months, my thoughts are still on Revelation chapter 2 and 3. Today it is specifically on what the Spirit says to the church in Ephesus. After a series of commendations to this church, the Lord concludes with something that only He could see - that they have forsaken their first love.
It would seem that externally, they were still doing good. Still committed, still enduring patiently, still fighting on. But something inside their spirit has grown cold. Somehow the work and the spiritual battles have predominate their hearts.
Now I don't think what they lost was fervency nor enthusiasm. They have not grown weary. But somehow the fervency shifted from the Lord Himself to the work itself. And there are consequences when this happens. Although it starts from the heart, it does not remain just in the heart. The Lord says, they have to do the things they did before. What did they do before?
I was reminded during our weekly bible study that the practical outworking of loving the Lord is to obey His commandments. One of the effects when we concentrate only on the work that the Lord has given us and not on Himself is that we stop listening to His further commands. We establish for ourselves a certain pattern and then we follow them, neglecting further instructions from the Lord. Even though our initial pattern may be from the Lord, may be correct, may be perfect for that time, yet when we stop listening we are no longer in obedience.
This is very often the case with churches with glorious history. The first generation forged a glorious history by following the Lord, but the subsequent generations just follow the pattern as if it was set in stone. Any changes are considered blasphemy. So the church gets set in a fix mold. It is no longer taking fresh instructions. I can think of many churches that are set in this way. Fervent, full of works, preaching the gospel etc. But there is no new insight. No fresh revelation from the Lord. They are stuck in their denominational ways, or established traditions.
So if we find ourselves in such a church, what are we to do? We need to do the things which we did before. We need to have an ear to hear what the Spirit says to the churches. We need to take fresh instructions from the Lord.
May we all learn to do that.
It would seem that externally, they were still doing good. Still committed, still enduring patiently, still fighting on. But something inside their spirit has grown cold. Somehow the work and the spiritual battles have predominate their hearts.
Now I don't think what they lost was fervency nor enthusiasm. They have not grown weary. But somehow the fervency shifted from the Lord Himself to the work itself. And there are consequences when this happens. Although it starts from the heart, it does not remain just in the heart. The Lord says, they have to do the things they did before. What did they do before?
I was reminded during our weekly bible study that the practical outworking of loving the Lord is to obey His commandments. One of the effects when we concentrate only on the work that the Lord has given us and not on Himself is that we stop listening to His further commands. We establish for ourselves a certain pattern and then we follow them, neglecting further instructions from the Lord. Even though our initial pattern may be from the Lord, may be correct, may be perfect for that time, yet when we stop listening we are no longer in obedience.
This is very often the case with churches with glorious history. The first generation forged a glorious history by following the Lord, but the subsequent generations just follow the pattern as if it was set in stone. Any changes are considered blasphemy. So the church gets set in a fix mold. It is no longer taking fresh instructions. I can think of many churches that are set in this way. Fervent, full of works, preaching the gospel etc. But there is no new insight. No fresh revelation from the Lord. They are stuck in their denominational ways, or established traditions.
So if we find ourselves in such a church, what are we to do? We need to do the things which we did before. We need to have an ear to hear what the Spirit says to the churches. We need to take fresh instructions from the Lord.
May we all learn to do that.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)