April 2008

After a seemingly long and cold winter, spring season is finally here! For those of us who don’t particularly like gloomy and sunless weather, we breathe a sigh of relief. We may now see more sun, and the temperature should be a few degrees warmer. Spring time seems to give people a lift in the spirit because we see more of the rebirthing of lives. Flowers start to bloom, birds start to come out more often to sing, and lawns are getting greener. Other than those who have allergies and may have to go through a period of running noses and watering eyes, we welcome the new signs of life.

With all the new signs of life spurting up, springtime seems to give us new hope, new vitality and new beginnings. It seems all the mishaps in the past could be put aside, and buried with the cold winter of the past season. This is more than “positive thinking”, it is reality. We often dwell too much on the past, and allow our mistakes to hinder us from moving forward. It is unwise to live in the past, good or bad. The past is history. We certainly can learn from history, but we can’t live in history because it doesn’t help. The future is a mystery. We won’t know what is around the corner in this maze of life. It may be something extraordinary delightful, yet it may also be unexpected challenges or even disasters. No matter how much you would like to control it, you know you can’t. Therefore, you don’t worry about it. The Bible tells us not to worry about tomorrow because we have enough to do today. If we spend too much time worrying, which takes a lot of energy, we won’t have enough strength to live for today.

We can’t change the past; we can’t control tomorrow. The only thing we can do is to do our best for the present. The English word “present” has a double meaning: one being now, and the other being “a gift.” Have you thought of your present life in this way? The fact that you are breathing and have the signs of life is a “present—gift” of God. Since God is giving you the “gift of present”, how then should we live? Life is too precious to be living wastefully without any purpose. We need to find a better purpose to live that is above and beyond earning our daily bread and nightly lodging. For Christians, we know that we live for Christ. It means our purpose is to live within the construct of Jesus’ will. The highest goal is to bring glory to God through our daily living because He has given us a New Life. Therefore, live with positive attitudes and gratitude.

Before I sign off, I wish all of you can experience Jesus’ promise as recorded by the Apostle John: “I have come that you may have life, and have it to the full.” A full life is a life that knows who Jesus is in our lives, and be assured through Jesus we have found the way to God the Father.

Pastor Larry

經 過一個似乎是又長又冷的冬天，春天終於已經到了！好像我一般不喜歡暗淡沒有陽光的天氣的人，我們都可以鬆一口氣，好好的去享受更多陽光普照的日子。春天似 乎是可以提升人的心情，因為陽光帶來較高的氣溫，而溫暖的氣候則帶出很多新的生命。美麗的花開始含苞待放、雀鳥歌聲處處聞、草木亦有更青綠的色彩。除了那 些有花粉症的人可能會對這季節感到不便，鼻水、眼水特別流得暢快以外，我們都是會歡迎這些新生命的像徵。

除 了這些新生命的標誌，春天似乎亦帶給我們新的盼望、新的活力、和新的開始。仿彿我們可以將過去的錯失與已去的寒冬一起埋藏起來。其實這並不單祗是「積極人 生」的想法，而是面對現實。很多時候我們花上了太多的時間活在過去的經歷中，以至失去我們前進的動力。無論過去是成是敗，活在過去都不是明智之舉。過去的 已經是歷史，我們當然是可以從過去的歷史中學習，但決不能總是活在歷史中，因為這是於事無補的。我們的將來是個謎。人生的前路可以說是個「迷魂陣」，不知 轉角那邊是什麼；可能是超奇的驚訝，亦可能是沒有預期的挑戰，更可能是不測的風雲。無論你是多麼的希望想控制你的未來，但亦非你所能。所以我們無需憂慮。 聖經告訴我們「不要為明天憂慮」，因為今天需要作的事已經忘得要命了。如果我們用太多時間和精力來為明天憂慮時(憂慮的消耗力實在是很大的)，我們就沒有足夠的時間和精力來好好的為今天而活。

我們是不能改變過去；我們更不能控制明天。我們唯一可以做得到的就是盡力的為現今而活。英文的「現今」有兩個意思：其一是現在，其二是禮物。你有沒有從這個角度來思想過你現今的生命？你今日有的生命氣息是神給你的禮物。神既然給你「現今禮物」，你應如何去生活呢？生命實在是太珍貴了，所以如果是沒有人生目標而單單是為了生存而活的話，就實在是太浪費了。我們慕要尋找到一個在〝日求三餐、夜求一宿〞之上的人生目標。對基督徒而言，我們知道是為主而活，意思就是說人生的目標是要活在耶穌的旨意中 ─ 而最崇高的就是要在日常生活中榮耀神。因為是祂賜給我們新的生命，所以我們要存著積極及感恩的態度去過著我們的每一天。

收筆之前，我盼望你能經歷耶穌藉著使徒約翰所寫下的應許：「我來了，是要叫人得生命，並且得的更豐盛」。豐盛的生命是認識到耶穌在我們生命之中是誰，並且因為耶穌的原故而可以確定的尋找到往天父那裡的道路。

唐若愚牧師