Are you sure you want to be?

First of all, you need to be a Christian. That means, to deny yourself, take up your cross and follow Jesus Christ. You sure you want to do this? (Matt 16:24; 2Cor 6:14-15)

Then, you need to love Him more than you love me, because He asked you to love Him above all things, which includes me, will you do that? (Mark 12:29-30)

If yes, then you need to keep quiet and wait. First is that I am committed to a singleness vow until end of the year, second I believe that lady should keep quiet and let the man initiate. I feel extremely uncomfortable, more precisely tension and tempted, and hence frighten away, even if you just try to hint me. So, would you just be still, be patient, and wait, even if the longing process agonize you? (Songs 8:4)

And, you better be sure that you want to marry me if I would to say that three words to you, because that means I want you to be with me for our whole life, for better or worse, healthy or illness, richer or poorer. You sure you want to be my help-mate? (Gen 2:18, 22-23)

Be ready, because I might give you no rings or wedding routine (dinner, photographs, etc. all those things a girl dreams of for her wedding,) most probably that I would offer them up for His kingdom and others’ benefit. Are you willing to offer them up, as Jesus relinquished everything He has in heaven for us? (Roman 11:31, 12:1-2)

Oh yeah, our honey moon, I guess it won’t be Paris or Hawaii, not even Cameron Highland, but it could be a mission trip, or Reformed Theology Seminary. Are you still willing to follow me as I follow Him, to be my help-mate, so that I could be ready and better prepared to serve Him where He will call us to? (Matt 19:29)

Now we have children, we made a family, and we are in mission field. Will you take good care of them; teach them as the Bible teaches us, by sacrificing your own interests or hobbies. Would you like to do that, so that I could be more concentrate on the things He calls me to do, for the benefit of His Church? (Matt 19:29)

Finally, I may be die before you, (I would not choose to, unless this is for His Kingdom and the goodness of the others; I will always put you first after Him to consider, and sacrifice first of all things, you.) Are you ready to face that kind of loneliness and solitude, to trust Him, has all security in life built upon His promises, trust Him above all that He will take care of you? (Matt 6:33)

Are all these too harsh for you? They are hard for me, extremely high the standard He sets for us. But these are what He, who is the gracious God, demands of us, to be a sacrifice wholly and holy on the altar for Him? (Romans 12:1-2)

3 Trust in the LORD and do good;
Dwell in the land and cultivate faithfulness.
4 Delight yourself in the LORD;
And He will give you the desires of your heart.
5 Commit your way to the LORD,
Trust also in Him, and He will do it.

2 August 2010

Our help is in the name of the LORD, who made heaven and earth.
Psalms 124:8

It is until we know how weak we are, that we realize how strong we could be in God’s arms. This I told my student this morning.

We often heard people, or even ourselves say that, “If only I could…”, “I was actually able to do so and so, it is just that…” It had been so much time that we look at ourselves, we think that we are good enough and capable to do something, which many times things turn out to be beyond our reach and ability. We over estimate things and under estimate the reality we are facing.

The good news is, He said to us, “My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness”. (NASB, 2Cor 12:9a) It is always about Him, His grace that enable us to face the difficulties, and His power that brings us through the distresses we are dealing with in our daily life.

We are weak. We just have to admit that. The technologies and all sort of historical monuments seems to tell us the other way, but such a tiny little creature we are in the universe, with limited strength, intelligence, life span, and no absolute control of environment, people around us (we can’t even decide or choose our parents, neither do them!) , things that could happened next seconds, we can’t determine when we were to be born, and no part in deciding when we going to die. (Commit suicide? Consider 《The Lotus Eater》)

But, this is not the dead end! Because of Jesus, because of this true, living God, “Therefore I am well content with weaknesses, with insults, with distresses, with persecutions, with difficulties, for Christ’s sake; for when I am weak, then I am strong.” (NASB, 2Cor 12:10)

We have the greatest helper, not in the universe, not in the whole history of human; but the Creator of universe and time Himself, who came down to Earth to go through all sorts of difficulties and temptations, which most probably we are not even going to face to the same degree as He did in our whole life. If God the Creator of the heaven and earth is our help, who, then, can defeat us?