#80a Bed of roses(18mar06)

‘They refused to give up their evil practices and stubborn ways.’
Judges 2:19

Homo sapiens, or early men were a materially deprived (if the recent documentary on television were to be believed) but emotionally happy lot, always aping around.

But what about modern men, blessed with all the accoutrements of present day living.

In the fading days of once glorious Rome, rumor has it that Emperor Nero fiddled and had great fun while Rome burnt.

As the icebergs melt, the weather sizzles and smog pollutes our physical environment, just as smug permeates and corrupts our morals, are we the modern day Neros, gallivanting and galvanizing our hearts and mind to the source of all short-lived lusts, Lucifer.

‘…..you cannot serve both God and money’
Matthew 6:24

In the infinite expanse of space, astronauts and cosmonauts not only have had the privilege to have a helicopter view of Mother Earth, but also be closer to God, for in the stillness of the vast expanse of space, without the clutter and clatter of the many distractions on Earth, we have a better sense of God’s presence.
(if you happen to read last week’s Sunday Times, hidden in the article on the cosmonaut, is a powerful testimony of his encounter with God in space)

‘…who think that godliness is a means to financial gain’
1 Timothy 6:5

For those whose feet are more firmly grounded on terra firma, woes and weal of life on Earth are suffice. It is not inter-galactic ventures but dreams of financially rewarding ventures that fill up the spatial corners of their minds.


‘Noah did everything that God commanded him to do’
Genesis 6:22

In the old movie “The gods must be crazy!!” The Masai tribal warrior, after almost being hit by a can of Coke from heaven(or in reality, from an airplane), embarked on a journey to seek out the source of enlightenment.




‘Jesus said, better to give than to receive’ But the devil in us says,” brighter to receive than to give”

God is love, love is God. We are commanded to love God with all our hearts, soul and mind, and to love our neighbours as ourselves.

‘…give me an undivided heart that I may fear Your Name’
Psalm 86:11

Indeed to many an unbeliever and or even believers, our response to this command is not far off from that of the Masai warrior. He only started to look for God when a momentous event happened in his life, momentous enough for him to leave everything behind and embarked on a journey of destiny.

Do we need a death defying or death threatening moment in our lives before we will truly shift our focus to God and to others, rather than to ourselves??

‘Turn to me and have mercy on me……’
Psalm 86:16

In modern day society, in the developed world, it is interesting to note that diseases continue to ravaged us, not just bird flu, but rather run of the mill cancer and heart attacks. And of course, beneath the modern civility, the savage beasts still lurked in many a man.

In the old days, the mentally unstable were sometimes burnt on the stakes, to exorcise the evil spirits in them. Today, depression is a common malady, repression is a way of life.

‘..a man’s life doesn’t consist in the abundance of his possessions’
Luke 12:15

This home truth often strikes home only when the finite nature of our temporal life becomes a reality.
Life stops being a series of worries and fears, striving, striving and conniving to build that illusionary bed of roses, for other than death, tomorrow is no longer a certainty.










The need to truly lean on God for one whose run out date is officially confirmed, and live for the day, for the day is suffice, is no longer a choice but a reality

‘…that you do as the occasion demands for God is with you’
1 Samuel 10:7

‘..keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said, “never will I leave you, never will I forsake you’
Hebrews 13:5

‘The Lord is righteous. For I rebelled against His commandment’
Lamentations 1:18

‘The Lord will not allow the righteous soul to famish…’
Proverbs 10:3


Some in the midst of their so called misfortunes, are blessed to recognize that in such ‘ill fortunes’, they begin to recognize the enormity of what lies ahead without God and start afresh in the love of God.

‘He who heeds discipline shows the way to life, but whoever ignores correction leads others astray’
Proverbs 10:17


But for many, by the time the foundations of their lives are destabilized, it might be just too late.

‘…but now He has promised, “once more I will shake not only the earth but also the heavens’
Hebrews 12:26

God Blesses

Eng Hieang