We were gathered at Expo Hall 6 waiting for the English Presbytery Easter Convention to begin. And I was urging LL to hand me her home-made pineapple-mango jam. "Shouldn't we wait till the service is over?" K mused at my side. "It's ok," I said defensively to her. "Read 1 Kings 19," I added.
Was I being irreverent to think of physical food while waiting to receive spiritual nourishment? Looking back, I should have quietened my heart to focus on the Lord Jesus, whose death and resurrection we were commemorating at the Easter Convention.
Indeed, we should quieten our hearts before any worship service. At Bethel's Mandarin service that I attend from time to time on Sunday, the choir always sings the same opening song - that in the holy temple of God, there should be quietness (在神的圣殿中, 应当肃静.)
Why, then, did I ask K to read 1 Kings 19? At the back of my mind were two incidents in which I was taught that physical food came before spiritual food - a Christian counselling course which I attended at the Singapore Bible College and the advice of my former church elder (who's a GP) concerning my mother.
During my Christian counselling course, the example of Elijah in 1 Kings 19 was cited to show that there were times when physical healing had to come before emotional, mental or spiritual healing. After his Mount Carmel victory over the false prophets, Elijah fled from Queen Jezebel who threatened to kill him. In his exhaustion, he slept and was then fed by an angel of God with bread and water. And strengthened by this food, Elijah traveled 40 days and 40 nights until he reached Horeb, the mountain of God. There, the Lord appeared to Elijah and instructed him.
What about my mother then? She became a Christian shortly after being diagnosed with terminal cancer. For a very short while, I tried my best to tell her simple stories from the Bible in my broken hokkien. When I shared with my church elder concerning my mother's lack of knowledge of the Bible and inability to go to church (she was already bedridden when she accepted Christ), he advised - take care of the physical body first, don't worry about the spiritual life.
I have come to understand that our Lord God is gracious and compassionate. He looks at our hearts, regardless of how much we know in our head or what we do in our body. At one time, my sis said to me that she needed to read and understand the Bible first before she could become a Christian. Thanks be to God that He does not require this of my sis (or any one) for her salvation. Becoming a Christian is very simple - just call on the name of the Lord Jesus Christ:
"9 ... if you confess with your mouth, "Jesus is Lord," and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. 10 For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved. 11 As the Scripture says, "Anyone who trusts in him will never be put to shame." 12 For there is no difference between Jew and Gentile--the same Lord is Lord of all and richly blesses all who call on him, 13 for, "Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved." " (Rom 10:9-13)
Salvation is by faith alone (sola fide), in Christ alone (solus Christus), through grace alone (sola gratia), rooted and grounded in scripture alone (sola scriptura) and for God's glory alone (soli deo gloria).
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