Friday 1 March 2013

WAKE UP CALL


We all love to chill out in the happening places in town on a Friday night. But giving it a miss sometimes has its advantages.


At a wake service, I shared with the audience that we have made a wise choice by foregoing “Friday night fever” for “it is better to go to a house of mourning than to go to a house of feasting, for death is the destiny of everyone; the living should take this to heart” (Ecclesiastes 7:2).

It’s strange that this week I have had the opportunity to attend two such services. I noticed it was the same guy from the same funeral parlour who served food at both these services. What is God trying to tell me? Have I been insensitive to His leading, living only for myself that He has to shout that I may hear?

The busyness and perplexities of life sometimes make us forget that we are here on earth only for a finite period. Once in a while as we gaze at a lifeless body within a casket, we get a much-needed reminder of our mortality.

We need such wake up calls on and off so that we learn how to number our days and gain a heart of wisdom (Psalm 90:12).

                                                                       


“All flesh is like grass and all its glory like the flower of grass. The grass withers, and the flower falls but the word of the Lord remains forever” (1 Peter 1: 24-25).

Though we will never know beforehand when our earthly sojourn is over, Christians are the most blessed people on earth for we have hope even amid grief.

We can rest in God's promises of eternal life and comfort during the last lap of life:

  •  Jesus said, “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me, though he may die, he shall live” (John 11:25).


  • “Even though I walk through the darkest valley, I will fear no evil, for you are with me;
          your rod and your staff, they comfort me” (Psalm 23:4).

So, while we still have breath, let us continually praise God for His abundant blessings.  
Let us serve Him, utilising all the gifts, talents and resources that He has entrusted us with.

Let us echo the wisdom of the apostle Paul: “For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain” (Philippians 1:21).

Let us live intentionally and circumspectly:

“Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise, making the best use of the time, because the days are evil. Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is. And do not get drunk with wine, for that is debauchery, but be filled with the Spirit” (Ephesians 5:15-18).

                                                                         
For more:

SETTING OUR HOUSE IN ORDER

How many of us prepare ourselves to meet our Maker?

http://bit.ly/1iiRhQT
            

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AWAKENED

by  ANDREW LIM KEE BOON  (unedited):


It seemed like I was waking up to just another boring Saturday in 2001.
As I stumbled out of my bed, my eyes were searching for the mobile phone.
After getting that Nokia 3310 into my hands,

I noticed that there were some unread messages.

One of those text messages quaked my mind.

A leader from the Youth Fellowship informed me that Abigail had passed away and that there will be a wake service.

I was at the age of 15 when I received the invitation on a Saturday morning to attend a Sunday School classmate’s wake service.
It wasn’t just the passing away of yet another member of the usual Sunday congregation.

On Sundays, my parents made it a religious obligation to attend the services of
a Bible-Presbyterian institution at Marsiling, in Singapore.
The religious system there involved encouraging teens to attend the Sunday School which had lessons for children of all ages to learn about the Scriptures.

The class for 15-year-olds 
consisted of
Abigail, Shaun, Timothy, Jonathan, Daniel, and me.
Some of these students had shared the same classes as me, since our days in primary schools. We had passionate and committed teachers who were diligently presenting weekly lessons to us in creative and interactive ways. Frequently, the lessons provided us with questions that tested our knowledge of the Scriptures.
There was one student who almost always had the answers to those questions.
Abigail.

She is the daughter of one of the church’s elders.
She was studying in an exclusive girls’ school for students who have exceptional academic performances.
She has piano skills.
She is the eldest sibling to her two younger brothers.
She was born with heart complications.
The medical operations failed. She passed away at the age of 15.
Numerous questions flooded my mind. One of those questions altered my perceptions about what it means for you and me to be here on this planet.
What is “Time”? 
At first, the conclusion was, “Time is Life. Life is Time.”

Since that season of my youth, I have continued to ask many more questions.
Those questions brought me into many adventures.
By the age of 19, I had visited over 30 different congregations of Believers to observe and learn from pastors, elders and small-group leaders;
in Singapore and Malaysia.

Then, marking the milestone of a quarter-century, our Designer gave my friends and I an opportunity to initiate manhood courses with a drug-rehab in
Petaling Jaya.  For two years, four of us coordinated lessons about roles and responsibilities of sons, husbands and fathers. With collaborative assistance from the centre’s senior pastor and his committee, we had on average 25 men meeting with us weekly, at 6 o’clock, for over 36 morning sessions.

Serving with many other ministry platforms and sabbatical venues, there 
have been priceless blessings of
shalom, euphoria, and relationships
as I encountered criminals, gamblers, alcoholics, refugees, orphans and addicts.
Money means nothing to me. Time isn’t money.

At this moment of writing in 2013, I have 3 more years to reach my 3rd
decade of experiencing humanity with you. 
We have limited physical lifespans as people who are now sharing this planet.
That means you and I are writing our stories.
Every great story
starts
to conclude.
Our birthdays are integrated with wake services.

Your narrative has 
commenced.

My documentary has
begun. 

Will we finish our stories well?

With greater coherence
now I believe
my Time is my Lifespan.

My Designer has given
Lifespan
for me to write collaborative stories with Him. 
Clarity comes from
interactions with our Designer. 

May we be awakened before our wake services. 


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