Making bread

We only begin to appreciate what we have when we start doing things we normally wouldn't do.

Like making bread.

We take bread for granted. Just a few bucks and you can buy a loaf of bread from the supermarket, already made for you.

But do we know how hard it is to make bread?

I made bread yesterday, using flour and yeast. The whole process is a very messy one. The dough sticks to your hands. You have to wait for the dough to prove and rise, which takes a long time. And there is no guarantee that the final product is good. Not to mention the washing up afterwards.

It took me about 3 hours to make 12 bread rolls. The satisfaction of eating one straight from the oven was great. Maybe I was too hungry to notice the difference, but it is quite an achievement to turn flour into an edible bread.

Isn't it wonderful that we live in a world that is so convenient? We should be grateful of everything that we have.

Death of a Christian

What do you think it is like at the moment of death?

There is a story from a person who told his wife the moment before he died that he could hear angels coming to get him, and could see the heavens open and that the glory of God was so splendid. His wife of course saw nothing. And then he died.

There is also a story from a person who was full of fear before his death, screaming and yelling in fear before dying.

The difference between the two is that the former person was a Christian and the latter wasn't a Christian.

Why are we so afraid of death? If we are to be in the presence and glory of God when we die, why are we still seeking to be in this world? It may be a blessing if we are to leave this world early so we are less prone to suffer in this sinful world, as we are citizens of heaven temporarily living in this place.

Business and responsibilities

Everyone is busy, but when you have responsibilities, you need to fulfil them even though you are busy. You need to find ways to make more effective use of your time. Even when your responsibilities come about as a result of your voluntary actions, you should still abide by them no matter how busy you are.

Maybe people nowadays do not see the importance of their responsibilities. Maybe they don't even realise they have responsibilities. Maybe they are too accustomed to reliance on others.

I have never thought of relying on others to carry out my responsibilities even though I am really busy. I use what little time I have to fulfil them - on the train, during lunch, sleeping a bit less, etc. I don't complain as I know why I am carrying out these responsibilities and that I am not doing things in vain.

Maybe I am too nice to people, trying to relieve them of their responsibilities when I think they are truly in need after their requests, but in effect, if they genuinely tried, they could have carried out their responsibilities anyway.

If everyone gives up because they are too busy, then noone would take up any responsibilities, and nothing could be achieved. If this happened, would people wake up? Or would they just move on and learn to adapt and rely on someone new?

God works...

God works in mysterious ways... when you've finally submitted to Him and are willing to face your demons, He suddenly removes those demons from you so as to assist you in carrying out His ministry more effectively...

But I sense that the road ahead may be faced with more demons than what we can see...