To: Me

In everything I did, I showed you that by this knd of hard work we must help the weak, remembering the words the Lord Jesus Himself said, "It is more blessed to give than to receive."
Acts 20:35


It must have been an intense emotional struggle for the Ephesian elders when Paul bade them farewell. He expected himself to land up in one life-threatening danger or another when he goes to Jerusalem and he might not see them anymore. The elders all wept, because they must have been intimate with Paul, who instructed them to defend against impending apostasy every day 'with tears' (v31) for three years. I think they would be feeling much anxiety. Although they knew this was part of God's Will, it reminded them again of the evil of the world - it is deliberately brutal to Christ and His people in this spiritual war.

O Lord, Paul's speech was so concerned with Your work nonetheless, that we must help the weak: those who are so in the worldly aspects (intellectually, emotionally, financially, socially and intellectually); and more importantly, those who are weak spiritually (the lukewarm, the stumbled, or the unregenerate that is still dead in transgressions). In the process of helping the weak, we give something, and giving implicates sacrifice. Thank God for His abundant empathy and mercy, for He replenishes with blessings that will far outweigh our giving. After all, 'every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights' (James 1:17).

Paul probably knew about Christ's crucifixion since his persecution of the early church commenced not long after it. He did not have the kind of intimate relationship James, John, Peter and the other apostles enjoyed with Christ. Looking at life after Christ left in the perspective of the Twelve, I believe there exists in them much poignance about Christ and His teachings and miracles before He was crucified. Christ knew His time on earth was not long, but yet the Twelve often stumbled and forgot His teachings to such an extent that Christ exclaimed that they were very dim. (But God is so praiseworthy that He chooses the weak, the lowly, the base to bring to shame the proud, the rich and the exalted, so that no man may boast before Him; I Corinthians 1:26-29) The apostles had to deal with shame, grief and regret for taking Christ for granted while He was on earth. Yet, amidst the great grief and discouragement came the hope that their Rabbi is the true, long awaited Messiah whom they will one day see again. They went back to their fishing livelihood when Christ died, yet this new hope they had gave them strength to evangelise in Europe, Asia and even up to Russia...to the ends of the world, and to proclaim their faith even unto martyrdom, save Judas the traitor and John.

In a way I'm not as privileged as the apostles who truly felt that pang of shame, loss and regret overtaken by wondrous hope and joy altogether. Paul didn't too, yet he was chosen to be the preacher to the Gentiles, received many visions from Christ and had as much strength to undergo multiple times of persecution as the apostles. He did this all realising that all things have become rubbish in the surpassing greatness of knowing Jesus Christ (Philippians 3:7-8). So I, too, am placed at where I best live out God's Will. Help me forgive, Lord - 'It is more blessed to give than to receive'. Not everyone is as strong as me in my strengths, and I'm just as weak (if not, more) in my weaknesses. Help me be willing to go an extra mile for the weak, just as many have done it for me though I may not be aware of it sometimes, because it will yield glory to You and make me a blessing to the edification of others.