A Life of “Bo-chup-ness” is a Life of Rest
I think in the wake of Pastor’s message on leading a “carefree, totally Bo-chup” life that question marks are ringing in some brothers and sisters.
“Can we really lead a bo-chup life? Is it possible? Is it even desirable to do that?”
I believe they are missing out on what Pastor is really saying, and what the Bible is saying in Luke 21:34: “But take heed to yourselves, lest your hearts be weighed down with carousing, drunkenness, and cares of this life, and that Day come on you unexpectedly.” (NKJV)
Does leading a bo-chup life means you just sit at home, shake leg, don’t go to work?
Does that mean you don’t study, because end-times liao mah, you think to yourself, what’s the point of studying anyway?
Does “bo-chup” means you don’t care?
NO!!!
What Pastor is saying is that all of us should have the revelation that in Christ, all things have been taken care of.
Why do we sing songs with lyrics like “I cast my cares before you, your peace shall reign in me…”
Why do we have verses in the Bible, Jesus’s words, that tell us: “Therefore I say to you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink; nor about your body, what you will put on.” (Matthew 6:25)
“Which of you by worrying can add one cubit to his stature,” Jesus said. (Matthew 6:27)
When we lift up our hands and say: “Lord, we cast our fears, our doubts, our worries before you”, what are we doing?
What are we doing?
We are saying “Lord, you handle it, I can’t.”
Why, then, many a times, do we take those worries back with us when we have just told God five minutes ago that “Nah, help me Lord, that’s your problem.”
Then after the worship ends, and everyone walks out of the Rock auditorium, those same worries which we have just committed to the Lord, seeps back into our consciousness.
John 14:1 says “Let not your heart be troubled; you believe in God, believe also in Me.”
It’s simply what you believe. When you were lifting your hands and crying till your eyes were swollen and your throats hoarse, and in that spiritual moment with God, you completely believed everything and anything.
The Lord wants you to know that everything has been taken care of - by Him.
Be restful. Keep that peace which you had with Him just now.
So we study in the knowledge that our results have been taken care of.
We work in the knowledge that our projects, our lesson plan will go according to plan; our promotions, career, success have been promised.
Jesus says in John 14:27, “Peace I leave with you, my peace I give to you: not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.”
When you have cried out all your worries to God, believe, therefore, that He has taken care of them. Because our God is one who even hears the slightest groans.
When God’s people were ill-treated with hard labour in the land of Egypt, their cries and groans reached the Heavenly Father. They didn’t even pray in proper words! Not even praying in tongues!
Today we have so many channels – praise and worship, praying in tongues, whatever works for you.
But at the end of it, know that YOUR cares have been taken care of.
Imagine yourself sitting down to dinner with your father or your mother or both. I don’t know if you do that because I’ve done this myself a lot of times. The waiter comes and serves you something you don’t like, say, asparagus or broccoli. What do you do automatically? You pick the asparagus from your plate and dump it on your parent’s plate. And you go: “Maaa, nah, I don’t like. You eat this.” It’s so natural.
Do you then take it back from them and try to bite and chew and then swallow it with your face looking like a kiam-gana? You don’t right? After we finish dumping those things we don’t like to eat, we happily chomp away the rest of the food, our hearts delighted.
That’s the same with our Abba Father. Eh, by the way, it’s rude to take back the food that you’ve just ‘dumped’ on someone else ok!
So there, our Heavenly Father does likewise, and you know what He does in addition, He empties His plate of good things – prosperity, health, peace, a new sports car, that Zara top, whatever blessings – from His plate to yours.
It’s really how much you dare to ask from Him. And what happens after you know that your cares are taken care of?
You rest.
Why can you rest? Because there’s no conflict, no problem, no worries.
You know in the Old Testament, God was so angry with the children of Israel that he swore that “they shall not enter my rest.”
Do you know something?
Today, God desires us to remain in His rest. To rest while He works everything in our lives.
Because Christ is in us, in our hearts.
He abides in us. He works through us. And He works for us.
When Jesus appeared to the church after He resurrected, the people were scared – terrified and frightened, the Bible says, as if “they had seen a spirit”. And the Lord Jesus said to them: “Why are you troubled? And why do doubts arise in your hearts?”
Notice the Lord asks “Why do doubts arise in your hearts?”
Why not your brain? Why not your mind?
Because that’s where your cerebral intelligence and your thoughts are, isn’t it?
But why your hearts?
Because your thoughts arise from desires in your hearts. Your heart is the one that sends signals to your gray cells, whether consciously or unconsciously.
And this peace that Jesus says He will give us, you know what, it’s a peace that “surpasses all understanding, and will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus”. (Philippians 4:7)
When the peace of God guards your hearts, your mind will not wander because it’s the hearts that produces cares in the brain, in the mind.
So the peace of God not only guards your heart, it also keeps your mind. The meaning of the root word “guard” and “keep” here is to “phroureo”, to protect against hostile invasion. When our hearts are at rest, filled with the peace of God, it is guarded, guarded from what?
From anxiety, cares, worries, temptations, any “fiery darts” that the Devil seeks to throw at us.
Today, Christ is the one who works in us, through us, for us.
And that rest in us prepares us for the things to come. The Bible says, continuing from Luke 21:34 which we saw earlier, that Jesus says in the next verse: “For it will come as a snare on all those who dwell on the face of the whole earth. Watch therefore, and pray always that you may be counted worthy to escape all these things that will come to pass, and to stand before the Son of Man.” (Luke 21:35-36)
You know something, just recently I was talking to a Christian friend of mine, who is not from our church. It was New Year’s Day and so I sent her a “Happy New Year” greeting through msn. You know what she replied? She said: “What’s there to be happy about?” I know immediately that she’s referring to the Asian Tsunami. I said to her: “Hey, but it’s the New Year. We can look forward because if the tsunami is a sign of the end-times approaching, then we are going to see Jesus soon.” She replied simply: “But are we prepared to see Him?” And then she quoted Matthew 24:40 to me and said: “Matthew says.... out of two in the field one will be lifted up into heaven. It says not all who calls upon the name of the Lord will enter into heaven. Have you been accountable for your actions and in your service to Him?” She’s trying to tell me about the rapture. I told her that the Apostle Paul made it so clear to us in the Book of Romans that Christ has justified us. But she insisted: “But that doesn't mean we can do anything we want without being accountable to God.. for the day of JUDGEMENT will come.”
By the way, I didn’t purposely type the letters “JUDGEMENT” in caps – I copied and pasted it exactly as it is.
Those of you who have attended last Thursday’s Bible Studies will know that Pastor taught on
the verse “Remember Lot’s wife.” (Luke 17:32)
And Pastor said that Lot’s wife, as is consistent in the Bible, the ‘wife’ refers to the church. And Lot’s name, in Hebrew, means “veil or covering”. And what did Lot’s wife do? She was escaping with her husband Lot from the city of Sodom because God has marked the city for destruction.
But Lot’s wife, while running away, turned back to look at the destruction and the raining of fire and brimstone from heaven. She turned back to look at God’s judgment.
Brothers and sisters, a veiled church will always focus on the JUDGEMENT that is to come with the second coming of Christ. And today, there are still Christians who are busy preparing themselves with good works to enter God’s Kingdom. And every time they are not prepared one. They always question you: "But are we prepared?"
And that is so sad.
Because Christ is so anxious to meet us, His bride – the church. But the bride is still asking: “But are we prepared? Judgment will come. We must be accountable.”
We are accountable because we are justified and we can enter the Kingdom of God not by ourselves but by Christ and the complete finished work He has done on the Cross.
And you know what, if you observe what Pastor has preached for the whole of 2004 and this year, you’ll notice that his messages mainly touch on rest and peace, and the complete totality of Christ’s works.
He preached on making Christ the centre of our lives in early January last year. Then he touched on the Sermon on the Mount where Jesus said: “Look at the birds of the air, for they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns; yet your Heavenly Father feeds them…Therefore do not worry, saying “What shall we eat? What shall we drink….but seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.” (Matthew 6: 26-34)
Be conscious of Christ’s complete work, Christ in your life because He has qualified you, justified you and made you righteous.
Then Pastor stressed on leading a stress-free life and we can do that because we are too blessed to be stressed. He went on to say “Go with the peace, have the peace.” When someone curses you on the road, be at peace.
The peace of God, of Jesus, when he walked on Earth, amidst all the people, the noise, the incidents that happened around Him, He’s always at peace, always the sane one.
We all know we are in the end-times. Because that has been preached to us over the last ten years, no matter which church you attend.
But what’s the preparation? Is it by searching ourselves inside out, questioning ourselves whether, I quote from our dear friend earlier “Have you been accountable for your actions and in your service to Him?”
NO!!!
Because we already are – Christ has purchased our souls with His blood!!!
Then how? What are we supposed to do?
DUH!!! Cease doing.
Just rest, be at peace. God is working, Christ is working.
Our part is to rest in Him.
And Pastor has been preparing and is still preparing us for that.
Rejoice! Because we will not be apprehensive about the Day the Lord comes on us unexpectedly as Luke 21:34 says.
And shouldn’t we? Because a bride always has butterflies in her stomach as she waits with exceeding joy and anticipation for the bridegroom to arrive. And when He finally does, the bride gets up, rushes to the Bridegroom and kisses Him passionately.
Or does she still sit there combing her hair and wondering: “But are we prepared?”
Which one would you rather be?
Notes: I actually wanted to share this during caregroup yesterday (14 Jan 2005) but since we ended at about 10.20 pm. I thought it's better to just pen it down and spare my CG mates the torture...Hahaha...
posted by weiwen @ 11:03 AM
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