I took a few days off last week to relax and do some house repairs. The weather however wasn’t quite cooperating – a series of hot, humid and stormy days follows. I managed to finish a few things around the house and decided to take it easy. Later in the week, I need to drop off my kids and friends at the airport. After dropped them off at the airport, my wife and I thought it would be a good idea to visit our daughter at college because it was the July 4^th weekend. So, we drove up and brought a church friend along to accompany us since he has never been there.

It was a beautiful day while we were driving. The church friend is very talkative so we learned many stories from him that we haven’t heard before. He mentioned that there is a famous English cram school in his home country, which is good at preparing students for taking GRE exam. Whoever would like to get a good score for the exam, in a very short time period, they can assure him/her to achieve the goal. Essentially, the school purposely focuses on teaching students “crucial” techniques in finding the best answer to each question, efficiently and accurately. It is not her purpose, however, to increase students’ knowledge in English in the long run. It is much alike an automobile cram school – aim to get students pass the driving test instead of “how to drive properly” on the road.

In today’s impatient world, everything has to be quick and fast. “Patience” seems to be lost from most people’s dictionary. In order to achieve personal goal / gain in a very short period, shortcuts, insiders, cram schools, etc. are favored and selected. A lengthy learning process or development is therefore deemed dumb and inefficient. This kind of “seeking instant benefit (急功近利)” can be very destructive to a person’s life and to the society. The chilling fact is it is like a beautiful building with a weak foundation – crumbled quickly when face with an earthquake or a storm.

My dear brothers and sisters, do we have a similar situation in our journey with our Lord? Do we consider the catechism class like a cram school – after we have been baptized, we think we are done? If this is the case, then, we are in trouble. The famous lesson “The Wise and Foolish Builders” from our Lord to His disciples, in Matthew 7: 24-27, teaches us that the difference between the wise and the foolish builder is to “listen” to His words and put them into practice. Without putting His words into practice, our faith is like building a house on sand.

Therefore, my dear brothers and sisters, we are in Christ’s school instead of cram school. In Christ’s school, we learn how to be obedient in following our Lord. He allows situations and trials to test us and let us to learn His will and to live a life that is worthy of His calling. This is what apostle Paul said, “all things God works for the good of those who love Him, who have been called according to His purpose (Romans 8:28). 萬事都互相效力，叫愛神的人得益處，就是按他旨意被召的人” And, we are predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, Jesus Christ. Consequently, our journey to conform to the image of Jesus is a “life-long” process and we can’t achieve it instantly.  May God grant you persistence and patience to put His words into practice!