As my in-laws are planning to visit us this summer, my wife has this “great” idea wanting me to “remodel” our three gardens outside. As a result, I spent most of my after work hours last week to clean and remodel the gardens. It has been 2+ years since we paid attention to our gardens. The gardens are all out of shapes, filled with weeds and unwanted stuffs. I have to clean them, replace the old enclosure with new wood, and add more dirt, soil and mulches. It is a laborious week and as of today, still progressing.

In the process of remodeling the gardens, we decided to scale the largest garden down to a smaller one for easy access and lawn maintenance. This means I have to remove all the surplus soil to other gardens – I need to dig the dirt out, mix with peat moss and then dump it to other gardens. With my aching back, it seems to take me forever to do those trips. This lets me think of an ancient fable called “The old fool moves the mountains 愚公移山” ha..ha..ha. Of course, this is just a sarcastic view of the fable. The truth is the old fool (愚公) is a man of persistence and love. He determined to improve the traffic convenience of his neighbors by convincing his family members and descendants to work with him – removing the two obstructing mountains in their daily path. Oftentimes, we praise those who have the determination to complete a difficult task – we admire their strong will and perseverance. Therefore, the old saying, “Where there is a will, there is a way 有志者事竟成”, is quoted frequently to describe the effort.

There is a “somewhat” similar story described in the book of Genesis chapter 6. There was a man called Noah who was a righteous man and found favor in the eyes of the LORD. He was instructed to build an ark, in his generation, in order to save mankind from the flood. In Noah’s case, he had to be very persevering in following God’s instruction and putting up sarcastic ridicules from others, during his laborious construction of the ark. Can you imagine the scene of a person who was in the wilderness, with his sons, trying to build a strange shape of boat for 70+ years? If it were I, I probably already gave up 🙁

It is his faith and reverence to God that Noah can sustain all the hardships and complete his assignment. The author of the book of Hebrews commented, “By faith Noah, when warned about things not yet seen, in holy fear built an ark to save his family. By his faith he condemned the world and became heir of the righteousness that is in keeping with faith. 挪亞因著信、既蒙　神指示他未見的事、動了敬畏的心、豫備了一隻方舟、使他全家得救．因此就定了那世代的罪、自己也承受了那從信而來的義。(Hebrews 11:7)” There are lessons we can learn from Noah’s experience. The question is do we have the same faith and reverence to God as Noah? For example, how long have we prayed consistently to God for our unsaved family members?

My dear brothers and sisters, I have a “great idea” 🙂  Let me change the old saying this way, if I may, “Where there is a will to follow God, there is a way to be blessed有志跟隨主，事事必得福”  May God bless you, as always….