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Taking OpportunityBeing a Christian all my life, I have never known God in a personal way. I attended almost all the retreats and conferences for young people; but my heart wasn't fully given to the Lord. I continued to be lukewarm until I finished university studies. I asked myself, “Who is God?” I realized that I had wasted twenty-two years of my life being indifferent and would continue to be so if I did not have a definite turn in my Christian life. I told the Lord that I could not change myself or turn myself to Him. So He needed to use the last college retreat that I'd be attending to speak to me and show me something of Himself through the messages so that I could be captured by His speaking and revealing and not try to change myself with my own effort. Relying on my self-effort to change would only destine myself to fall back to my indifferent condition. The Lord was faithful in answering my desperate prayer. In the college retreat, the Lord showed me and touched me with a story of a woman in Matthew 26:6-13. She poured out a flask of alabaster ointment of great value upon the Lord Jesus before His crucifixion to anoint Him for His burial. I opened up the Recovery Version of the New Testament Bible to check out the footnotes for these verses in Matthew. Footnote 81 says, “Throughout the past twenty centuries thousands of precious lives, heart treasures, high positions and golden futures have been `wasted' upon the Lord Jesus. To those who love Him in such a way he is altogether lovely and worthy of their offering.” Footnote 111 continues, “We must love the Lord and grasp the opportunity to love Him.” I sensed that the Lord had given me this story of Mary who loved the Lord so dearly and was willing to pour out her best for the Lord. He was calling me and still is calling me to give up every thing to love Him and pursue to know Him more as a living person. I don't have anything except time and my youth. I realized that the opportunity I need to grasp is right now--to love Him right now, to waste my best on Him right now, and to get to know Him as my dear and lovely lover. The college retreat and the footnotes in the Recovery Version of the New Testament Bible revealed that Mary could give her best to the Lord because of the Lord's love towards her being great, eternal and constraining her to consecrate herself to the Lord. As the Lord has captured Mary, He has captured my heart. A.H. | Back to List |
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