It is back to school time and we dropped off our kids back to college on last Friday. Due to the registration time and move-in time are early in the morning, we chose to stay in a hotel the day before in order to avoid any possible traffic jams on the road. Our car was packed with luggage and passengers, including two of our in-laws – it was a full load ride. Thanks to our Lord, we arrived at our destination safely and smoothly. 

This year we are happy to see my son moved in a two bedrooms townhouse which has a nice kitchen and dinning/living room. After seeing the kitchen, my son asked my wife to give him a short lesson of cooking. My wife told him that it is too late now since we couldn’t stay there too long. Later we found out that his roommate brought in good cookware and utensils to share. We then chatted with his roommate’s mother and learned that her son is a good cook. We thank God for His arrangement.

My son has a not-so-good habit – he likes to do / ask thing at the last minute. Oftentimes this gives us headaches, especially when it involves us to be ready for buying something for him, or taking him to somewhere, etc. I repeatedly told him that he needs to give us time before we can react to his requests. I certainly hope that he can change the habit during the school years before it is too late.

I am sure we all have our sheer experience in doing thing at the last minute. To me, it is painful and carries a lot of mental pressure. The worst nightmare, I think, is to find out that you missed a lifetime opportunity or an important deadline – “It is too late”.  In a letter that apostle Paul wrote to his dear co-worker, Timothy. Paul requested Timothy “Do your best to come to me quickly你要趕緊的到我這裡來 (2 Timothy 4:9)”.  On the surface, it may just like a normal request. When you look it closer, you will find that is a heart-felt and earnest request that Paul made to Timothy. As Paul’s life is entering the last chapter, his death is imminent. He would like to see his spiritual son, co-worker, and dear brother Timothy one more time. The opportunity for Paul to see him was heavily depending upon timing before winter, as it is not sailable on the sea during winter time. Unfortunately, as is commonly known, Timothy missed the opportunity due to various reasons. I am sure Paul would feel greatly disappointed.

In our life journey, there exist numerous opportunities that we can pursue and may take a hold of it. However, opportunity vanishes when timing is missed. The author of the book of Ecclesiastes told us that “There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens凡事都有定期，天下萬務都有定時 (Ecclesiastes 3:1) ”. We may see tomorrow and the day after tomorrow, thinking that there is always tomorrow. We may see the season comes and go repeatedly, thinking that there always another season to come. But, have you ever thought about that there is ONLY one opportunity that is the most important to our life, my dear friends? It is the opportunity to know God and receive His precious gift – His son Jesus Christ – as your personal savior. May you grab this lifetime opportunity before it is too late!

As summer is winding down, kids’ vacation time is also approaching to an end.  I realize that we didn’t get a chance to have a whole family vacation or outing yet, as there were always millions of things pull us apart. Yesterday, we finally had the opportunity to have a whole family outing. We went to a local state park to enjoy the warmth of beautiful sunshine, beach and row boating.

Sitting in a row boat with my kids, basking under the sun, I watched them row the boat and thought this is really a nice and pleasant day!  My elder son, however, seems not quite in the mood of this activity. I asked him what is going on. He said he prefers to hang out with his friends. I then became aware of that his peers’ attraction is more than us – the whole family. I don’t blame him as he is still young. I think he will understand the importance of family relationship when he is getting older. I find this fact was reflected on my eldest daughter who chose to reschedule her lunch meeting with her friend in order to join us with this family outing.

A family usually means a group of people who are closely related by birth, marriage, or adoption.  They usually live together and function as a single household with parents and children as a hierarchical and relational structure. Thus, when a group of people lives together without relationship as was described previously, we don’t usually view it as a family.

Last time I shared with you about a big family which is from God. I emphasized that it is love that really matters to a family as it is the foundation that is based on God’s truth. Bible told us that God establishes the marriage for a man and a woman to join together in one flesh in order to start a new family. When we chose to ignore this truth, the foundation of a family shattered. The consequence is chaos in the society because God has been excluded from our daily living – there is no restraint in our sinful desires in the flesh. Apostle Paul indicated to us that God gave those who exchanged natural sexual relations for unnatural ones over to shameful lusts. The results are receiving in themselves due penalty for their error (Romans 1:24-27). May we be solemnly reminded, my dear brothers and sisters.

It has been a busy two weeks for my family. Our regular schedule had been shifted around involuntarily because of my wife’s niece’s wedding ceremony in last week – this includes my weekly sharing schedule too🙂. In preparation for the ceremony, my family, naturally, became the host to all my visiting in-laws. And, unavoidably, we have to assume the task of receiving, cooking and chauffeuring. Though it is busy and laborious but it is also a joyful family reunion time.

During their stay, my in-laws have the opportunity to observe our daily living and especially, to see how the families of God work together in preparing for the wedding ceremony. They told us that they were very impressed on our arrangement and preparation and the ceremony was solemn and meaningful. I know it is not easy for some of them to take time off from their ever-busy day-to-day schedule. This temporary detour from their schedule, however, gives them a chance to have a refreshing experience and most importantly, an opportunity to learn what is the true meaning of a marriage defined by God.

From this experience, I do see how God provide and how He led two persons (the bride and the groom) together without the limitation of distance and cultural differences. He is really a great God! Also, I see brothers and sisters pouring out their time and resources to help us in making the ceremony perfect – what a love we have received! I thank God for giving us so many loving brothers and sisters to accompany us through the time of joy. This lets me think of what apostle Paul has said, “與喜樂的人要同樂Rejoice with those who rejoice (Romans 12:15a)”.  The sincere love expressed by our brothers and sisters makes us feel warm and also to our in-laws. They said: we look like a big family and they are happy to see the newly-weds are with us in the family of God.

As you may know, “small” family size has been emphasized and enforced by government and authority in some countries, because of the exploding population in their countries. So, the question is: Is small family size better or a big family size better? I think it depends. The truth is it is not the size of the family that determines its superiority. Instead, it is the love within the family that really matters – without the love, it is just a dysfunctional family. By knowing this truth, my dear friends, I invite you to join the family of God with us. This is a big family with God’s love and it is “the” family that will sustain forever under any circumstances.

Two weeks ago at my working place, we had a chance to meet our NEW ‘top’ executive. After his speech, he held a “Q&A (question and answer)” session for the employees who want to ask him questions. One of the questions being raised was, “You are given the job to come here, what is your directive from the above?”  He thought a little bit and responded, “Apart from ‘Don’t screw it up’, there is really not much I can say.” I was impressed by his answer.  This seemingly simple directive – don’t screw it up – represents an expectation from someone who is with authority and in addition, it needs a commitment and persistence from whoever receives it to carry out.

At my working place, our performance and conduct are assessed every year. It is a system being set up for employees in order to maintain certain standard of performance in the company. Are we always up to expectations without screwing it up? Probably not! Is the system always fair without fallacies? Probably not, either! Some people would feel that he / she is forced to accept the evaluation regardless whether he / she likes it or not.

Analogously, I am sure you have your expectations from your children, if you are given the opportunity to bring them up. Are they always meeting your expectations? Probably not! We call these are growing pains – for both parents and kids – in order to lessen our disappointment. Yes, it does bear some truth in it. However, this also brings us two possible aspects. One could be our incorrect expectation from our children and the other could be our children’ unwillingness to commit to our expectation.

2000+ years ago, there is a man who was given a directive from the above to sacrifice his life in order to complete a plan from the above.  His name is Jesus. When He was sent by God to this world, He was expected to complete the task of propitiation on humankind’s behalf. Has Jesus met God’s expectation? Certainly! Apostle John, in his recording of Jesus’ crucifixion on the cross, indicated to us that Jesus said, “It is finished. 成了！(John 19:30)”. 

Without Jesus’ commitment in submitting to God’s plan, we are still under the dominion of darkness. Apostle Paul told us that death reigned from the time of Adam to the time of Moses, even over those who did not sin by breaking a command, as did Adam, who is a pattern of the one to come 然而從亞當到摩西死就作了王、連那些不與亞當犯一樣罪過的、也在他的權下．亞當乃是那以後要來之人的豫像. (Romans 5:14). And, “For as in Adam all die, so in Christ all will be made alive在亞當裡眾人都死了．照樣、在基督裡眾人也都要復活” Because of Jesus’ commitment in completing His task, we – whoever believes in Him – are made alive in Him. What an accomplishment!

My dear friends, do you know what God’s expectation from you is? He is expecting you to believe that His son, Jesus Christ, has finished the task of being a sin offering for our sins. With that belief, you can then have redemption and He can rescue you from the dominion of darkness and brought you into the kingdom of the Son He loves. Please remember that there is a time limit to our journey of life in this world. And, there is no doubt in my mind that at the end of our life journey, we will be evaluated. At that time, my dear friends, can you say that “I didn’t screw it up” in front of God?