John 6:27 Labour not for the meat which perisheth, but for that meat which endureth unto everlasting life, which the Son of man shall give unto you: for him hath God the Father sealed.
Yesterday was Labour Day to honour workers all over the world who have contributed to the economic and industrial achievements, but to financial experts, the economy of the world is on shaky foundations.
Last year, it was the banks that gave us the scare; governments got together to help ailing banks to advert what could possibly be the world’s biggest financial disaster. But new dangers are looming on the horizon; this year, it is the countries which are in trouble. The economic crisis that seemed to have eased off in the latter part of 2009 is coming back; all eyes are on Greece that has threatened the world with yet another financial crisis. More countries that are heavily encumbered by debts may follow suit after Greece; stock markets crashes leading to financial meltdown may be the likely scenario if there are no real and quick solutions to resolve the mounting financial problems of the world.
So far Singapore has make a turnaround—unemployment has gone down and the economy is forecasted to be 7-9%.The Prime Minister said in his May Day rally address that Singaporeans can be more confident and positive about the future. With the two Integrated Resorts in full swing more, job opportunities and the economic outlook ahead are bright and positive for Singaporeans.
When the Lord Jesus says ‘Labour not for the meat which perisheth’, it is not to forbid us to labour for food and the necessities of this earthly life. Sometimes, we may think that we have the Lord all well figured out but we can be as mistaken as the people in His days when they thought that they were seeking Jesus for the right reasons. In John 6:26, Jesus said to them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, “Ye seek me, not because ye saw the miracles, but because ye did eat of the loaves, and were filled”. Verse 27, “Labour not for the meat which perisheth, but for that meat which endureth unto everlasting life, which the Son of man shall give unto you: for him hath God the Father sealed”.
The disciples were impressed to see so huge a group of people of 5000 strong coming to seek their Master, but Jesus was not impressed by the sheer crowd. He knew the human heart. He knew that the people first sought Him because of the miracles but their real motive was to be fed. If they were attracted to the miracles, at least there was a possibility that they could get themselves to be saved. Nicodemus started with the premise that no man could do these miracles except God be with Him.
Jesus pointed out that there were two kinds of food: food for the body and food for the spirit. The real need of the people is not food per se but life, and life is a gift from God. Food can only sustain this earthly life, but only Jesus gives the eternal life.
The crowd sought the Lord after the loaves and fish: what about you? What are you seeking? The only place you can find real joy, peace, fulfillment and escape from this life is in Jesus. John 4:34, “Jesus saith unto them, My meat is to do the will of him that sent me, and to finish his work”. Food for the hunger and water for the thirst, but to do the will of God is for those who love Him; whether in sowing the seed of the divine truth or reaping the harvest, their employment and service to God is one of joy and purpose.
C is for Cat City
Below are the 2 testimonies from Brothers Alan Tan and Daniel Koh about the recent Kuching Mission trip.
Brother Daniel:
Kuching is the capital of Sarawak, a state in East Malaysia . It is situated near Brunei and Indonesia and can be classified in two main areas, namely, the Kuching North City Hall Area and Kuching South City Council Area. It is the fourth largest urban area in Malaysia (slightly more than half a million according to the year 2006 census) and its religious piety among citizens comprises Christianity, Buddhism, Taoism and Islam. Its name, Kuching, literally means “Cat City” but its desperately low number of stray cats truly created a great disappointment for cat-lovers and tourists: friends who have ‘Ailurophobia’ may not necessarily fear this city.
From 19 to 24 March 2010, Uncle John, Mei Jie, Limei, Alan and I took TigerAir and flew to the Cat-city. The mission team had a smooth flight and arrived at Kuching in the late morning. Brother Wang, a brother in Kuching, picked us up at the airport and had his son to drive us to a hotel. On the journey, we had a quick chat with brother Wang’s son and discovered he was at a tender age at 19. While some slept in the car, a few of us took the opportunity to appreciate the beauty of Kuching City .
Throughout the mission trip, I had difficulties communicating with the Kuching brethren. Our Lord wonderfully led me through the camp and taught me to depend on Him. I have learned to trust more in our Lord and depended on Him in moments of weakness. I had trusted in His grace and He gave me tremendous help in my service to God.
During the messages, we learned about “What is God?” and “What is man?”, and these were the few main and important lessons taught by Uncle John. Even such fundamental questions reminded me of the basic theology.
The Kuching brethren were young in faith. Everyone except brother Wang lacked in confidence in public prayer. What they needed is willing people to go and serve in there. I therefore urge you to find opportunity to make yourself free for Kuching mission trip. I doubt the mission team stops here. We’ll be organizing more Kuching mission trips and I pray that you can join us.
Singapore has been blessed with pastors and full-time servants of God, but Kuching lacks willing people to minister to them. We pray that more brethren will have the burden to serve our Lord in Kuching.
Brother Alan:
Thank God for this opportunity to labour for His kingdom in the recent Mission Trip. It is yet another eye opener for me to see how God works in this “Cat City” (name of Kuching). I had the opportunity to share in Chinese at one of the prayer meetings in the short camp that was conducted by our mission team. The greatest challenge is to lead a group of aunties and uncles to talk. They are relatively young Christians, therefore some of them were either too shy to pray or they did not know how to pray. It was not easy to get them to share too. Thank God that a least they did speak when there was a discussion question. God willing, if I am able to make it next year, I do hope to visit the Church again.
