Dear Brethren,

  • MH370 missing plane from 8 March 2014 till today with 239 passengers on board
  • Sinking of Korea ferry on 16 April 2014 with more than 300 lives lost who are mainly teenagers
  • About 200 school girls abducted in Nigeria from a school on 14 April 2014 and not yet found
  • Avalanche at Mount Everest that killed 16 Sherpas on 18 April 2014
  • Turkey mine collapse that killed at least 232 workers last Tuesday, 13 May 2014

In the recent 2 to 3 months, we read of such tragedies happening around us in this world. There are also many deaths seen in the wars in Syria, suicide bombings in Iraq and Afghanistan, and even gun shootings in USA. I wonder what is your reaction to such tragic accidents.

Let none of us say such words which are not biblical at all …

It won’t happen to me

I am lucky … it didn’t happen to me

These people fated to die

It is a punishment for them

Let these verses from the Bible guide us in our thoughts and words as we read of tragic events happening around us.

“And Jesus answering said unto them, Suppose ye that these Galilaeans were sinners above all the Galilaeans, because they suffered such things? I tell you, Nay: but, except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish.” Luke 13:2-3

The first thing that we must do when we read of tragic events is to repent of our sins. It is never to think we are better, more righteous, or lucky, to be alive. Rather the Lord Jesus Christ reminded us that it is His mercy that has kept us alive today. We need to search our hearts to have a heart cleansed and right before Him.

“Whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away. For that ye ought to say, If the Lord will, we shall live, and do this, or that.” James 4:14-15

Every death around us, especially sudden ones, is to remind us that our life on earth is very short and just like a vapour. We should never boast of our strength and health and presume we will live to a ripe old age. None of us even know what will happen in an hour’s time. Hence, our words ought always to be “If the Lord will” and we sincerely mean it from our heart.

“But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up.” 2 Peter 3:10

When we see tragic events and how a plane can disappear or a ferry can sink, we must remember that we live in the last days. The Lord Jesus Christ will come again very soon. In His second coming, it will be Judgement time. All things on earth will be destroyed and burnt away. Let us never set our heart on earthly things for they are temporal and will one day be burned up. Instead, set our affections on things above!

Elder John Leong