August 31, 2024

We noticed beautiful yellow flowers with leaves in front of our driveway a couple of weeks ago. I have never seen one there over the years, and while we were looking at it, Hyemi said, “These are pumpkin flowers!” It turns out, that when we got a pumpkin to carve in the fall season, we placed it out in the driveway and left it out there for the longest time until it got mushy, and finally got rid of it. The seeds must have come out during that time and were planted in that spot and started growing there. I don’t know whether pumpkins will actually grow there, but they don’t belong in the driveway. When the time comes, I will pluck them out and get rid of them.

There’s a similar parable in the gospel of Matthew, which talks about wheat and tares (Matthew 13:24-30). It talks about how the enemy came at night and sowed tares in the wheatfield. The master let both the wheat and tare grow together, but when the time of the harvest comes, the servants will gather the wheat from the tares, and the tares will be burned. This parable is about the kingdom of heaven.

This reminds us to be ready for the time when Jesus returns. Jesus explains in Matthew 13:41, “The Son of Man will send out His angels, and they will gather out of His kingdom all things that offend, and those who practice lawlessness.” The tares represent those who offend and live a lawless life. If one cannot abide by the law of the kingdom of heaven, it would be very difficult to live in the joy of God’s ways. 1 John 5:3 says, “For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments. And His commandments are not burdensome.” I pray we will find the joy of keeping God’s commandments.

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August 24, 2024

“Commit your works to the Lord, and your thoughts will be established.” Proverbs 16:3.

Written by the wisest man that has ever lived (aside from Jesus, of course), the book of Proverbs is a sea of wisdom and contains words of truth that paves a way of happiness in life. The more you read of it, the more you will reap blessings from this wonderful book written by King Solomon. 

When I was young, my mother sat me down and told me this. There are 31 chapters in the book of Proverbs. Since there are 30 (or 31) days in a month, I should read one chapter each day. If I do this each month, I would be reading the book of Proverbs 12 times a year. What a great way to gain wisdom from the Scriptures on a daily basis.

Well, my mother didn’t stop there. She told me one more thing. There are 12 chapters in the book of Daniel, and 22 chapters in the book of Revelation, a total of 34 chapters. As Seventh-day Adventists, we know the importance of these two books. Hence, she said I should read one chapter each day, along with a chapter from Proverbs. Then, I would be able to read Daniel, Revelation, and Proverbs close to 12 times in a year.

There are many ways to engage yourself in the Word of God daily. My mother’s idea was just one of many ways. I pray that we will take time out of our busy lives and spend the most important time of the day with God from the Scriptures.

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August 17, 2024

“You should put these in your car, otherwise raccoons will come out and eat them.” Paula advised as we were cleaning up after supper on the campground. With only little experience of camping, I really didn’t think that these creatures would come out to eat these fully wrapped ramen noodles, but I listened to her and put the box in my trunk.

Night fell and all the families went to their tents for a good night’s rest. It was a long day of enjoying nature and a wonderful hike on the bluffs of the state park, and so we all fell asleep right away. In the middle of the night, I woke up at the sound of footsteps. I thought to myself, “Who would walk around our site at this time of the night?” Then I heard bags of chips opening and they were eating them! I managed to put away the box of ramens but I had left a box of chips that I bought from Costco for all the kids to eat on the picnic table. That’s when I remembered the raccoons!

I didn’t know what to do. I don’t like animals that much, and I was scared at the thought of leaving. But I had to find out. So I grabbed a flashlight, zipped up the tent and flashed the light toward the picnic table. There were 4 raccoons feasting around the table and bags of chips were all over the place. I was scared to go out. I didn’t know anything about raccoons and I was scared that they would attack me. After a few minutes, I gathered the courage to step out. As soon as I stepped out of my tent, the raccoons disappeared instantly. I stood out there for a couple of minutes but they didn’t come back out. I took the moment to put the box of chips into my car. In the morning, I picked up 15 bags of chips around the picnic. I am sure the raccoons had a great time.

Food was there, and the raccoons came out to eat them. It’s as simple as that. It’s like setting the wolf to guard the sheep. That’s no different for us spiritually. If we are exposed to temptation, we will be tempted to fall into sin. In the face of temptation, the only thing you should do is to get out, so that you will not indulge in sin. Even better, God tells us that He will help us. “No temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man; but God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will also make the way of escape, that you may be able to bear it.” 1 Corinthians 10:13. I pray that we will learn to enjoy walking with God in this world full of sin, as He will guide and help us to stay away from it and our faith in God will grow more than ever.

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