6th October 2016
Dear Brothers and sisters,
Autumn, a new beginning of the year, it’s the start of a new journey for the overseas students and the new graduates.
We always relate ‘newness’ with the New Year, wearing new clothes and shoes, learning new blessing words and eating new delicacies, looking forward to a bright future. But the feeling of freshness will vanish in a few days.
The most precious ‘newness’ is ‘to be transformed by the renewing of your mind’. It is not obtained by learning or experience or techniques, but the power through the connection to eternity.
I have eaten many bitter melons in Britain this year. A small seed was planted in the soil of Wales. It broke and budded and grew into many melons. What a wonderful mystery of life! The bitter taste turned into memorable sweetness.
One who’s transformed by the renewing of the mind dares to break himself in darkness. This earth is not our home. We are on a journey to a better home. Our lives are transformed with living water and sunlight. It is a journey of growth.
A Chinese man once engraved a saying in his bath-tub reminding himself to clean and renew himself every day. It’s not difficult to clean ourselves physically. But who can forgive our inner sins?
Jesus, the Son of God, came to save the world. ‘Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come.’ (2Cor 5:17)
With Jesus walking beside us, we can clean and renew ourselves every day.
In Christ,
Sam Wong