Having to start work for more than 2 months, I am thankful to the Lord for the many opportunities that He has provided for me to reach out to my colleagues. Just for updates, I’m currently working at UOB, so you must obey God by leaving your money with bankers like me so that you can get higher interest on your money (Matthew 25:27) =). Haha, okok, jokes aside. Hmmm, where I am working, everyone is practically talking about money, from my colleagues to my customers to the security guards at the branches. Everyone is concern about what they are earning on their investments/ savings and for my colleagues, it would be how much they will be earning. In a world that speaks of fighting for your own survival, God is hardly ever mentioned and hardly on people’s mind. That is where the challenge comes in to rethink about their idea of independence and survival.
I’ve a colleague called John (not his real name). He’s been working day and night, putting in a lot of effort in this job to the extent that he hardly takes a break. For him, money is his motivation. Sometimes when there is no sales for the day, he would feel lousy and basically his mood/feelings is dependent on his sales performance. Not to say that I don’t feel lousy when I dont get sales, but its humanistic to feel so lar. So as I get the opportunity to take the same bus/mrt with him, I get the chance to ask him questions like “Is money really that important in life” & “What defines happiness” and these questions really provoke his thinking to think deeper and we would discuss about the questions. To him, there is no God, and religion is just a man made belief to make a person better, we need to strive for our own. I would say that he is not totally not receptive but there is this barrier of self and pride to overcome in him. Well, at the same time while sharing with him, it serves as good reminders of what our priorities in life and our life principles should be.
Another of my colleague called me the other day to ask about the End Times. Basically, he met this Christian lady who told him that we should not buy any insurance or investments already because Christ is coming in 3-4 years time. My friend got very agitated and puzzled to receive such comment. So he asked me for my own opinion. And God just opened this opportunity for me to share about End times, Second Coming and Christ. And the good thing about it is that he had actually mentioned that we should discuss more about such things and wants to meet up to talk more.
Other than my non-Christian friends, my concern is for my professing Christian friends who have not gone to church for several years due to work commitments. To them, career comes first and they are willing to put any other things aside in order to establish their career and to make more money. The struggle is very real. Trust me, especially when you are not grounded and have little accountability with fellow believers. It’s quite disheartening to see my professing Christian friends not attending church anymore, picking up the bad habit of smoking and clubbing. As much as I can encourage them to revisit their faith again and to go back to church, God needs to do the heart of conviction .
Some of the lessons that I’ve learnt: 1. to be prepared in season and out of season to share 2. to ask the right questions so in order to get them thinking 3. never give up but to persevere on.
Yeap, so this is what I hope to share with all of us. The following is a song that the Junior Sunday School kids have performed for teachers’ day and the song really ministered to me:
TESTIFY TO LOVE
All the colors of the rainbow
All the voices of the wind
Every dream that reaches out
that reaches out to find
where love begins
Every word of every story
Every star in every sky
Every corner of creation
Lives to testify
CHORUS:
For as long as I shall live
I will testify to love
I’ll be a witness in the silences
When words are not enough
With every breath I take
I will give thanks to God above
For as long as I shall live
I will testify to love
From the mountains to the valleys
From the rivers to the seas
Every hand that reaches out
Every hand that reaches
out to offer peace
Every simple act of mercy
Every step to kingdom come
All the hope in every heart
Will speak what love has done
Will you testify for what God’s love has done for you? =)
