Many Things About Tomorrow, I Don't Seem To Understand

Yesterday i was talking with a church sister and the topic of discussion led me to think back of a sermon i heard 2 to 3 years ago by our church elder from Taiwan. After i told this sister about this, i decide too to put this into here to remind myself of it always. It is just a rough summary of the sermon and the teachings.

The sermon title if i did not remember wrongly was "Strolling with a Snail" (it was chinese, this is my translation).
The sermon was saying that nowadays in our lifes, we are often so busy that we have no time to think about God and the beautiful things around us that He created. We are often dashing from one place to another, rushing to do one thing to another and because of this never stop to enjoy the beautiful life the God have given us. So in the sermon, the elder said that once God asked a man to bring a snail out for a walk, the man followed what God told him. We all know how “fast” snails move, so the man was very much ahead of the snail in just a few steps. Seeing that the snail is very far behind, he had to turn back and wait. After a while this man started to get very impatient in waiting because he is so used to the fast pace life that he is leading, and now waiting for the snail, it is wasting his time away. Suddenly this man noticed the beautiful flowers by the road, he had walked through this road so many times before, but had never noticed that there are flowers that are so beautiful just by the road. Slowly he started to see the birds flying joyfully in the sky, butterflies floating around the flowers, trees swaying with the wind, etc all these are so beautiful to him, and he wondered why he has never noticed them before. So he started walking slower and slower looking at all the beautiful creations of God. Soon he was so slow that even the snail overtook him. Then a thought strikes him, actually it is not he who is bringing the snail out for a walk but the other way round, God has asked the snail to bring in on a walk, to learn this lesson in life.What God is trying to teach this man and us is that in our daily life, often we are so busy that we have never stop or slow ourselves down to think about God and the beautiful life He has given to us!

How very true this is. Today in Singapore everyhing are happening so fast and we are often rushing from doing one thing to another, from place to place, even if we do come to church for services, most the time our hearts will be thinking of what to do after service etc. Have we ever taken time to sit down and enjoy the things that the Lord has bestow to us? Have we stop and think about the Love of God and what can we do to repay His love?
I know i have not. Often i complain of my busyness, and getting myself tied up with all the things of the world and sometimes even with the things of the church. But God wants us to be Mary, not Martha. Martha was busy serving the Lord, but in this she has not have the time to slow down, and listen to the Word of Jesus. Mary sat at the foot of Jesus and listen to the the teachings of Jesus, and in this she has chosen the best part. I often wonder is all of us like Martha? Getting ourself busy in serving God so much so that we do not even have time to quiet ourself down and sit down in front of Jesus and listen to His teachings?

So with this why not learn to take a stroll with the snail, to look at the beautiful creation of God around us, to appreciate the people that the Lord has place around us. And to feel the love that the Lord has given to us abundantly?

Soon it will be the Sabbath day, its a good time for us to start, and to quiet ourself and down and observe the Sabbath, a day for us to rest from the toil of the world and to draw near to God :)

Have a blessed Sabbath!

-Peace-