Have You Found the Secret of Teaching? II

Have You Found the Secret of Teaching? II

Afterward, a student who came from other place transferred to our school. He was so mischievous that other teachers were not willing to take him. Finally, the principal put him in my class. However, in class, he left classroom whenever he wanted to; after class, he often made troubles and fought with low-grade students. As a result, some students, teachers and even some parents of other students came to me to make complaints about him. When I tried to talk with him about these things, he was not convinced at all. At that time, I was at the end of my patience. Again, I intended to punish him, but I remembered the hymn of God’s words “The Practical God Saves Men in Obscurity” I used to croon. I realized that: God is the Creator and He is so supreme. Although we have disobeyed and opposed Him for many times, He still uses His word to remind, exhort, support and provide us, waiting for us to turn to Him. I am just a small creature, why can’t I treat students with love and patience? Thereupon, I forsook myself and went on helping him with love. However, not a little did he restrain himself, instead, he was even more in opposition to me, which made me lose my patience completely. I thought: Before you came, my class was a good one. It is your coming that makes a terrible mess of this class. You have ruined our reputation. I, the head-teacher of the class, will have no face to meet anyone if I let your insolence go! Hence, I planned to punish him by copying homework for a whole day without going home for meals. When I was about to exercise the authority of a teacher, a passage of God’s words came to my mind, “Now when some matter comes upon people, regardless of what the actual situation is, they think that they can do this and that, but God is not in their hearts, and they do it according to their own intentions. Regardless of whether the course of action is suitable or not, or whether it is in accordance with truth or not, they only stiffen their necks and act according to their personal intentions. It usually seems that God is in their hearts, but when they do things, God is not in their hearts. … Actually, people are not really seeking God and praying to God about this. They are not striving to do it well to satisfy God’s will, nor striving to do it well according to His requirements. They do not have this true situation, and they don’t have such desire. This is the greatest error people make in their practice, because you believe in God, but God is not in your heart. How is this not a sin? How is this not deceiving yourself? What effect will believing this way have? Where is the practical significance in believing in God?” The judgment and chastisement of God’s words promptly enlightened me. I used to declare before God that I would like to practice the truth. However, when I found the student was difficult to manage, I didn’t bring the problem before God to pray for it or to seek God’s will, nor did I find the way of practice in His word. Instead, I acted according to my personal intentions. My faith in God was in words only, and I would gain nothing in the end. Immediately, I prayed to God, “O God! A naughty boy transferred to my class. May You keep my heart to obey this environment. Please keep me from doing things by satanic disposition in the position of teacher any longer. As for that boy, whether he will change or not and to what extent can his view will change, they are all in Your hands. I’m willing to rely on You and commit him to You.”

After my prayer, I saw God’s word, “Normal humanity includes these aspects: insight, sense, conscience, and character. If you can achieve normality in each of these respects, your humanity is up to standard.” After reading these words, I began to examine my past behavior. Before, I treated my students as different categories. I always praised those outstanding students, rewarded and encouraged them. Yet those slow students always got physical punishment, which made them more depressed and caused them to be fed up with study in the end. All these were the evil I had done. Wasn’t I even possessed of a normal humanity at the very least? After realizing these, when I encountered that boy, I didn’t think he opposed me on purpose, but though God would perfect me to live out normal humanity through him. I would like to forsake myself and treat him fairly.

Later on, I often came to chat with him. At first, he was reluctant to contact with me. I persuaded him many times, but he still kept silent. My patience wore thin. When I was about to give up talking with him and leave him alone, a passage of words in “Sermons and Fellowship on Entry Into Life” crossed my mind: “Everyone wants to practice love, coordination with others, forgiveness, patience, tolerance, but they fail; Each of us would like to care about others, love and help them, it is harder to practice. It is because people are deeply corrupted by Satan, isn’t it? It is because people are deeply corrupted by Satan, are full of satanic poisons and much hatred exists in man’s flesh.” According to this passage of fellowship, I was just aware that I was deeply corrupted by Satan. I could be tolerant and patient with students temporarily, but not perseveringly. I found I didn’t possess a normal humanity. How could I, in this way, establish a normal relationship with students? So I made a resolution inwardly: Whatever his attitude toward me is, I shall treat him with love. After that, I prayed to God and relied on Him for many times; under the guidance of Him, I came to talk with him again. Gradually he was willing to talk with me what was in his heart and his attitude toward me also changed.

Afterward, I often invited those naughty children of my class over on weekends. I helped them make up lessons, cooked for them and talked with them, through which I came to know why they were naughty: On the one hand, their parents were not by their side for a long time; on the other hand, their relatives didn’t care about them; in addition, teachers and their classmates often discriminated against them at school. As a result, their spirits were downtrodden. In order to comfort themselves, they made troubles by design, hoping to draw the attention of their parents and teachers. Knowing their inner voice, I thanked God in my heart unceasingly. If I had not had heart-to-heart talks with them and still employed my previous education method, I would have made them more and more oppressed and wouldn’t have been able to educate them well. From then on, through my care and guidance over and over again, the naughtiest boy seldom cursed or fought with others. What’s more, he was willing to join in the activities of our class and could finish his homework actively. Once, he had a private conservation with me of his own accord after a class meeting, which moved me most. He said he wanted to take revenge on one of his classmates and he had hidden a dagger in the woods. Inspired by the class meeting, he determined to give up that revenge. Besides, he gave the dagger to me for safekeeping, hoping that I could forgive him. Seeing his changes, I had greater confidence to rely on God to educate these children.

One day, I saw God’s words: “Today I have come to do the work of your salvation, which is to say that the work I do is a continuation of the work of salvation. Every person has the chance to be made perfect: Provided that you are willing, provided that you pursue, in the end you will be able to achieve the effects, and not one of you will be forsaken. If you are of poor caliber, My requirements of you will be in accordance with your poor caliber; if you are of high caliber, My requirements of you will be in accordance with your high caliber; if you are ignorant and illiterate, My requirements of you will be in accordance with your illiteracy; if you are literate, My requirements of you will be in accordance with your level of literacy; if you are elderly, My requirements of you will be in accordance with your age; … I want everyone to catch up, want everyone to have the work and the enlightenment of the Holy Spirit, and be able to obey to the very end, because this is the duty that each of you should perform. When you have all performed your duty, you will all have been made perfect, you will also have resounding testimony.” The work God does varies from individual to individual and His requirements of us are in accordance with our caliber and stature, instead of imposing uniformity in all cases. God is really righteous! Later on, I began to practice His words. I arranged activities for my students according to their specialties as well as hobbies to stimulate their learning interest and increase their sense of collective honor and cohesion. Some were fond of literature and art, they would be arranged to publicity team of literature and art, and this team members would be in charge of all the related activities of our class; Some were interested in PE, they would be arranged to PE team; Some were good at painting, I arranged they into painting team, and so on. I allowed them to make the best of their advantages. When I didn’t force my personal ideas on them, their learning interest gradually improved and they had some changes in ideology and morality. The student, who once climbed on a moving train, was in charge of sports activities. He not only could give full play to his expertise, but bring forward some suggestions on who was good at long-distance running and who was good at high jump and so on. According to his arrangement, we trained the students in accordance with their advantages, our class won the prizes in every item in PE at last. What’s more, when he found his classmates quarrel and fight with others or make troubles, he would persuade them and mediate these matters in no time. No matter what good ideas he had in all aspects of work, he would communicate with me actively. Through discussion, we would work out some measures. Who would have thought that he became my capable assistant. Once, I was ill and didn’t take the class. To my surprise, he called some of his classmates to see me.

Before the graduation examination, I didn’t encourage my students to cheat. But I felt a little bit worried: This is a crucial exam and it directly related to my students’ entering a higher school as well as my reputation in our school. I thought: If they fail in this exam, how will others think of me? After that, I saw God’s words, “In truth, there are many matters in which man, if he devotes just the slightest effort, can put the truth into practice and thereby satisfy God. The heart of man is constantly possessed by demons and so he cannot act for the sake of God. Rather, he constantly journeys to and fro for the flesh, and profits nothing in the end. It is for these reasons that man has constant troubles and afflictions. Are these not the torments of Satan? Is this not corruption of the flesh? You should not fool God by only paying lip service. Rather, you must take tangible action. Do not fool yourself; what is the meaning in that? What can you gain by living for the sake of your flesh and toiling for fame and fortune?” Through the judgment and chastisement of God’s word, I realized that I was pursuing fame and position. Then, I prayed to God for many times and asked Him to protect my heart; I committed this exam into His hands and didn’t want to be restrained by fame and position. Before the exam, I encouraged my students: “Don’t be restrained by scores. Just try your best. You shouldn’t cheat in exams any more. Never lose heart if you fail. And I will help you with your lessons after that.” I never expected that our class still ranked high in the exam. After the graduation ceremony, my students would leave our school. I would never forget the affectionate care between these students and me.

Now, there is a qualitative change in my teaching. I deeply felt that when I taught by Satan’s philosophies of life in the past, I was tired and my students were fed up with me. When I relied on God and practiced the truth, I saw God’s blessings. Not only did my students can help each other truly, but we built a true relationship. I felt the peace and comfort that I have never had before. Afterward, some parents asked to send their children to my class so that they can be at ease. I know this is the result achieved by the work of God. And it makes me gain more confidence to rely on God to educate children.

I have truly tasted the sweetness of practicing God’s words and felt the preciousness of God’s words through my experience. God says, “Only if one knows God and has the truth does he live in the light; and only when his view of the world and his view of life change does he change fundamentally. When he has a life goal and comports himself according to the truth; when he absolutely submits to God and lives by God’s word; when he feels assured and brightened deep in his soul; when his heart is free of darkness; and when he lives completely freely and unrestrained in God’s presence—only then does he live a true human life and become a person possessing truth. Besides, all the truths you have are from God’s word and from God Himself. The Ruler of the entire universe and all things—God Most High—approves of you, as a real man living the true human life. What could be more meaningful than God’s approval? Such is a person who has the truth.” Only the truth can bring us the right path of life and only by coming before God and comporting ourselves according to His words can we live out a real life. Living under the domain of Satan and living by the life view and the life philosophies come from Satan will make us eviler and be less and less humane. I thank God for leading me to walk onto the right path of human life from the bottom of my heart. All the glory be to God!

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Have You Found the Secret of Teaching? I

Have You Found the Secret of Teaching? I

Li Min

When I was a child, I had high regard for teachers. After graduation from senior high school, I got my wish and became a teacher in a private primary school, and then I made a firm resolution: Children are the flowers of our motherland. I must educate them carefully to make them pillars of the state when they grow up, lest I should bring disgrace on the sacred title of “the engineer of the human soul.”

When working as a teacher, at the beginning, I gave the excellent students more encouragement and also helped the poor students with their lessons patiently. It surprised me that my class ranked last in the exam. I felt very dismayed and thought: In the last six months, I taught assiduously and conscientiously, but why did my class do so badly in the exam? As I could find out no way, a close colleague had a heart-to-heart talk with me: “You should treat these students harshly. Spare the rod and spoil the child. So, if they can’t get good scores, you should punish them and give them some pressure. Gradually their scores will be improved.” I was astonished at these words. And I thought: The responsibility of a teacher is to teach and nurture people. In order to improve the students’ exam results, a teacher puts pressure on them and punishes them, then does he have professional ethics? But considering that I have just entered into this profession and the competition was so fierce, if the exam results of my class always stayed in the last place, I can’t teach at this school. For the sake of my career prospects, I tried to accept my colleague’s “experience” after turning this matter over and over in my mind.

At first, I didn’t have the heart to mete out physical punishment to them. Over time, my conscience became dull. Thus, I often asked disobedient students to remain standing in the playground; When they got up to mischief, I pulled their ears or spanked them; If they didn’t hand in homework, I would ask them to copy the homework for many times and stand on the platform; Sometimes I called their parents to teach them. As a result, those students behaved themselves in my class and everyone feared me and treated me with great respect. After six months, their exam results rose from the last to third from last. It seemed that my colleague’s method was effective.

Afterward, their exam scores rose rapidly and ranked among the best always. Meanwhile, I was assessed as an advanced teacher for many times. Ten years later, I was promoted to teach in a public school. Soon I was transferred from a rural school to an urban one. I saw my colleagues there also educated students by meting out corporal punishment to them. Civilized teaching didn’t exist at all. In addition, for improving exam scores, those teachers arranged the seats painstakingly by matching outstanding students with slow students before exams. Furthermore, they put pressure on the outstanding students by requiring them to “help” slow students. Teachers told those outstanding students, “if the slow students do poorly in exams and affect the total scores of the class, you will lose your opportunity of being assessed as excellence.” Additionally, teachers also instilled into their students the idea that “Fullness for the bold, famine for the timid.” Besides, they told them to seize every chance to copy other’s and those who could get high scores by copying were proved to be really capable. Even those students who didn’t normally hand in their homework could get over eighty scores in the exam in the end. In this way, not only would the students and their parents be happy, but teachers would also be happier. The headmaster knew it in his gut and everyone had a tacit understanding. Only by seeing this did I know that the teaching method was the same in rural places and urban areas. It was indeed true that “All crows under the sun are black,” and “Exams are the most effective method for teachers and scores are the lifeblood to students.” In order that I could stay at the school, I promptly followed their teaching method.

Before long, some students of our school were sent back to school by policemen because they climbed onto the moving train, including a student in my class. Contrary to my expectations, after coming back, this boy bickered with other students and then they fought with each other. Moreover, he took a knife and intended to revenge them. If it were not caught timely, the consequence would be unpredictable; When holding sport competitions, the school, advocating the slogan, “Friendship comes first and competition second,” intended to enhance the friendship among students. To my surprise, the students of my class voluntarily organized together, shouting the slogan wantonly, “Defeat the other class firmly!” That raised a strife between two classes. In addition, a girl envied another girl’s good grades. They usually attacked, abused and fought with each other so that their parents fell out with each other too, which left a shadow on their young mind. … I was lost in thought after seeing all these matters: Are these “fruits of education” come out through my “careful” education over these years? “Teaching and nurturing people,” how sacred duty it is! “A teacher is an engineer of the human soul.” What a glorious title it is! But what did I bring to these children? How could I educate them well? I felt confused.

When I was at a loss, my relative preached God’s kingdom gospel to me. Through reading God’s words and living the church life, my heart came to be attracted by His words. One day, I saw God’s words: “There is an enormous secret in your heart. You never know it there because you have been living in a world without light shining. Your heart and your spirit have been taken away by the evil one. Your eyes are covered by darkness; you cannot see the sun in the sky, nor the twinkling star in the night. Your ears are clogged with deceptive words and you hear not the thunderous voice of Jehovah, nor the sound of the rushing waters from the throne. You have lost everything that should have belonged to you and everything that the Almighty bestowed upon you. You have entered an endless sea of bitterness, with no strength of a rescue, no hope of survival, left only to struggle and to bustle about. … From that moment, you are doomed to be afflicted by the evil one, kept far away from the blessings of the Almighty, out of reach of the provisions of the Almighty, and you embark on a road of no return. A million calls can hardly rouse your heart and your spirit. You sleep deeply in the hands of the evil one, who has lured you into the boundless realm, with no direction, with no road signs. Henceforth, you have lost your original purity, innocence, and started to hide from the care of the Almighty.” God’s words lit up my heart like a lamp, through which I saw I have been corrupted by Satan and lost my direction. I thought: When I started to be a teacher, in conformity with the sacred duty of a teacher, I did my part with a sense of responsibility and had a clear conscience. However, facing the fierce competition, in order to remain as a teacher in the school, I went against my conscience at any cost, carrying out corporal punishment. In consequence, those students were scared of me just like mice met a cat. During examinations, I encouraged them to cheat, instilled them the thoughts “Fullness for the bold, famine for the timid,” and “The fittest will survive.” Consequently, they were wrecked both physically and mentally. However, if I had not been awakened by God’s words, I would have still educated them in an immoral way, which would hurt these naive and innocent children. Realizing this, I prayed to God, “O God, I will no longer follow Satan. Please guide and lead me, so that I can live under Your protection and care.”

One day, I read these words of God, “In your seeking, you have too many individual notions, hopes, and futures. The current work is in order to deal with your desire for status and your extravagant desires. The hopes, the desire for status, and the notions are all classic representations of satanic disposition. The reason that these things exist in people’s hearts is entirely because Satan’s poison is always corroding people’s thoughts, and people are always unable to shake off these temptations from Satan. They are living in the midst of sin yet do not believe it to be sin. … For many years, the thoughts that people have relied upon for their survival have been corroding their hearts to the point that they have become treacherous, cowardly, and despicable. Not only do they lack willpower and resolve, but they have also become greedy, arrogant, and willful. They are utterly lacking any resolve that transcends the self, and even more, they don’t have a bit of courage to shake off the strictures of these dark influences.” From these words, I came to realize: Over these years, for the purpose of saving face and preserving my standing, I kept working hard and acting unscrupulously, hoping to gain a foothold in the education world and other’s admiration. I have been actually driven by the thoughts of Satan, “People want to move up as water has to flow down,” and “Stand out from others and pursue to stand high among people.” When I pursue fame, gain and status, I have been taken captive by Satan and become a servant of them, betraying my conscience to teach and living in pain. This is exactly the contemptible means by which Satan corrupted man. I made my resolution to get rid of these wrong view points and no longer willing to be used by Satan.

Afterward, I voluntarily made apologies to my students in class: “Dear students, I only knew to treat you rudely in the past. I am sorry. Now, I hope you can supervise me. If you find I do something wrong in the future, please tell me and I will change.” After saying this, I felt a sense of release. Then they all looked at me in amazement, and whispered: “What’s wrong with our teacher today? Even her tone has changed. Does she really mean that? …” After a while, the monitor incredibly stood up and asked me, “Miss Li, won’t you punish us any longer?” I nodded with a smile. Then they made some proposals, “Miss Li, I think you are a little partial, please pay more attention to us.” “Miss Li, if something happens in school, please solve it in school and don’t tell our parents.” Hearing the low students were willing to speak, I felt very gratified. It seemed that the relationship between us was closer suddenly. It was all due to God’s guidance. Thank God! Thereafter, when seeing me, they greeted me actively and they became attentive in class; after class, my appearance wouldn’t put a sudden stop to their laughter; some slow students actively found me for making up missed lessons and asked me questions. Moreover, some helped me fetch water when I was watering flowers in the schoolyard. … Their small changes made me feel pleased for practicing the truth.

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How To Shake Off Worries And Find A Happy Life

How To Shake Off Worries And Find A Happy Life

Hanxiao

There is no denying that we all want to live a happy life, having a warm and harmonious family, an ideal job, a good prospect, sensible children and so on. However, in the process of seeking happiness, we are besieged by all sorts of worries. Some people worry about whether their jobs will be threatened in face of fierce social competition. Some worry about their success in competition with their colleagues.Some  rack  their brains trying to make big money to remain invincible in the business.Some seek every means to attend training classes given by famous teachers to improve themselves constantly, so that they will become the strong of life or social elites. And some worry about when they can pay off their car loan or housing loan and therefore rush and busy about for it. More people can hardly breathe due to hard work or heavy business, and pressures of life have greyed their hair. Others worry about their marriage and family in face of the temptations from the evil trends of the world. Still others worry about how to educate their children and make them stand out among others in the increasingly fierce social competition. … With so many worries in our life, isn’t the happy life we yearn for far from the reality?

Then, What Causes the Worries in Our life?

There are mainly two reasons.

First, our criteria of a happy life are fame and gain. We think we will live happily as long as we succeed in our studies, careers, and marriage, our children become useful, and we become the best of the best and are admired by others. We all live by the rules for survival such as the “wealth and status,” “family prestige,” “rising above others,” “money talks,” “money isn’t everything but without money you can’t do anything.” So we fix our life goals firmly on those which can bring us fame and gain, and fear that something would go wrong in the course of our pursuit and thus we might brush past happiness.

Second, we live in our own worlds and always want to live the life we desire through our own exertion. In fact, we are insignificant in this universe, but we always consider ourselves powerful. We think that our fates can be controlled by our own hands. Only by seizing the right moment and grasping our fate can we succeed, and only by keeping ourselves progressing can we achieve a happy life step by step. For these reasons, we often worry: Should I have done it better? Have I missed any chance?

Can These Things We Pursue Bring Us a Happy life?

In reality, if we think back and observe carefully, we can easily find this fact: Many people try their best to live happily, but when some of them do get fame and gain and position, they find themselves living in a treacherous world where people intrigue against and outwit each other. They are no happy at all. Some people have reaped fame and gain after struggling most of their life, but they do not feel happy within their hearts. For they have seen that there is no justice, no righteousness, and no light in the world—everyone lives for fame and gain and for pursuing fleshly enjoyments, and nobody can find a shred of the value and meaning of life. Some people have successful careers and happy marriages, but in real life, they rack their brains to get money, fame, gain, and position, and are exhausted from the sinister interpersonal relationship. Some people become millionaires, but they die young or commit suicide, for the material wealth cannot fill the emptiness of their hearts. So money cannot bring us happiness, either. Even many elderly people who used to eat bland food say, “Now we are wealthy and don’t need to worry about food and clothing, but we always have a sense of emptiness within. Well, we’re just muddling along.’” Maybe you don’t understand why they say so. Since they had gone through many hardships and now live a wealthy life, they should feel happy. But how come …

Actually, King Solomon’ words in the Bible have given us the answer. He said, “I have seen all the works that are done under the sun; and, behold, all is vanity and vexation of spirit” (Ecclesiastes 1:14). This shows that a wealthy life, and fame and gain cannot bring us happiness; they can only make us feel increasing emptiness.

How Can We Shake off Worries and Live a Happy Life?

As a matter of fact, the true happiness comes from God, and only God is the source of our happiness. Only by obeying God’s sovereignty and walking the way of human lifein accordance with God’s requirements, can we have the true happiness. The LordJesus has said to us, “Therefore I say to you, Take no thought for your life, what you shall eat, or what you shall drink; nor yet for your body, what you shall put on. Is not the life more than meat, and the body than raiment? Behold the fowls of the air: for they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much better than they? … Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed? (For after all these things do the Gentiles seek:) for your heavenly Father knows that you have need of all these things. But seek you first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added to you” (Matthew 6:25-26, 31-33).

We were created by God; and in the beginning, in order to make us mankind live better on earth, God created the beautiful Garden of Eden for our ancestors, Adam and Eve, and unconditionally bestowed upon them everything they needed to exist. They were carefree and blissfully living in Eden. Abraham, recorded in the Bible, heard God’s command and went to the place God promised to him. He didn’t worry about his future life, rising up and leaving his hometown. Because he had the true faith in God and true worship of God, he could obey all the orchestrations and arrangements of God. He took no thought of his own future and fate, nor did he have unreasonable requirements or extravagant desires for God. He lived in God’s blessings all his life because of his worship for God. In addition, Job, a character in the Bible that is familiar to us, spent all his life in seeking to know God among His creation of all things and worship Him, so he was blessed by God and became wealthy. When he was stripped of all, he neither complained or misunderstood God, nor worried about his future life, because he knew that everything was in God’s hands. When he absolutely obeyed and offered praise to God, not only did he gain double blessings from God, but also his life was prolonged and he died full of days at last. The Lord Jesus’ words make us understand that in our real life, if we are able to practice the Lord’s words, follow His way, and pursue the truth to gain life and attain fearing God and shunning evil, we will receive God’s blessings and salvation and be qualified to enter the kingdom of Heaven. Only when we love the Lord with all our heart, all our mind, and all our soul, only when we have an obedient attitude to our future life, and only when we receive everything God has arranged and prepared for us and seek to know God through it, can we live in happiness.

Finally, let me share a passage in “God Himself, the Unique III”: “For one sees that when one does not comprehend fate, when one does not understand God’s sovereignty, when one gropes forward willfully, staggering and tottering, through the fog, the journey is too difficult, too heartbreaking. … When one has no God, when one cannot see Him, when one cannot clearly recognize God’s sovereignty, every day is meaningless, worthless, miserable. Wherever one is, whatever one’s job is, one’s means of living and the pursuit of one’s goals bring one nothing but endless heartbreak and irrelievable suffering, such that one cannot bear to look back. Only when one accepts the Creator’s sovereignty, submits to His orchestrations and arrangements, and seeks true human life, will one gradually break free from all heartbreak and suffering, shake off all the emptiness of life.”

Dear friends, I hope this article could help you reflect on life, shake off your worries, and have a happy life.

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Can One Enter the Kingdom of Heaven by Working Hard?

Can One Enter the Kingdom of Heaven by Working Hard?

Every brother and sister in the Lord has a desire: to enter the kingdom of heaven, which is also the Lord Jesus’ promise to us. Then, how can we enter the kingdom of heaven? The Lord Jesus said to us, “There is no man that has left house, or brothers, or sisters, or father, or mother, or wife, or children, or lands, for my sake, and the gospel’s, But he shall receive an hundred times now in this time … and in the world to come eternal life” (Mark 10:29-30). So, most brothers and sisters in the Lord believe that as long as they forsake their family, job and marriage and work hard for the Lord, they will enter the kingdom of heaven and gain eternal life. Therefore, some Christians choose to renounce marriage to work for the Lord, thinking they can enter the kingdom of heaven in this way; some choose to serve the Lord in all their lives, spending all their efforts and time in building churches, by which, they think, they can enter thekingdom of heaven; some think as long as they give more offerings and preach everywhere to spread the gospel, they can enter the kingdom of heaven.… Actually, most brothers and sisters think these are the standards for entering the kingdom of heaven, and even envy such Christians, believing they will surely enter the kingdom of heaven. But is this really the fact? Recently I studied the Bible and read the words of the Lord Jesus, “Not every one that said to me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that does the will of my Father which is in heaven” (Matthew 7:21). Only then did I know toil is not the standard for entering the kingdom of heaven, and that only those who do the will of the heavenly Father will enter the kingdom of heaven. Doing the will of the heavenly Father means practicing the Lord’s words and abiding by the Lord’s commandments. When toiling and laboring, if one practices according to the Lord’s words, submits to and fears the Lord, pursues loving God as above all else, as well as sincerely expends for God, completely to satisfy the Lord, without transactions or impurities, they will be after the Lord’s heart and eventually enter the kingdom of heaven. On the contrary, if one simply works hard but refuses to practice the Lord’s words or abide by His commandments, he will not truly obey or worship Him but work arbitrarily. Such toil is full of his natural character and preferences and can in no way satisfy the Lord’s desire. And if there are impurities, transactions, intentions and purposes in one’s hard work, and they even take paying the price and working hard for God as the bargaining chip for entering the kingdom of heaven to make a deal with God in exchange for the blessings in the kingdom of heaven, these are even more the manifestations of resistance to and blasphemy against God.

Think back to how those priests, scribes, and the Pharisees served God in the temple throughout the year. They were familiar with the Bible and were well versed in the law. They burned incense, offered sacrifices, made prayers, interpreted scriptures and preached in the temple, and even traveled over land and sea, toiling and laboring for spreading the gospel. They were admired by people for their suffering, but why did the Lord Jesus condemn and curse them? The Lord Jesus said, “Why do you also transgress the commandment of God by your tradition? For God commanded, saying, Honor your father and mother: and, He that curses father or mother, let him die the death. But you say, Whoever shall say to his father or his mother, It is a gift, by whatever you might be profited by me; And honor not his father or his mother, he shall be free. Thus have you made the commandment of God of none effect by your tradition. You hypocrites, well did Esaias prophesy of you, saying, This people draws near to me with their mouth, and honors me with their lips; but their heart is far from me. But in vain they do worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men” (Matthew 15:3-9). “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for you compass sea and land to make one proselyte, and when he is made, you make him twofold more the child of hell than yourselves” (Matthew 23:15). “But woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for you shut up the kingdom of heaven against men: for you neither go in yourselves, neither suffer you them that are entering to go in” (Matthew 23:13). Pondering over the Lord’s words, I knew that the Pharisees traveled far and wide spreading the gospel, but they didn’t preach God’s laws or commandments but their ancestors’ traditions, which was essentially abandoning God’s commandments. They passionately worked hard and paid a price not for loving God or obeying God, and not for leading people to walk in God’s way or worship God, much less for exalting or testifying to God. Instead, they exalted and testified to themselves to make others worship them through preaching their ancestors’ traditions. So, in the toil and labor of the Pharisees were full of personal aims and goals. When the Lord Jesus came to do His new work, His sermons and work were warmly welcomed by the people and many people followed Him. While the Pharisees were feared of losing their place in people’s hearts. For the sake of maintaining their statuses and jobs, they resisted and condemned the Lord Jesus frenziedly, and even colluded with the Roman government to crucify Him, which revealed their nature of hating the truth and their substance of antichrists. That is why the Lord Jesus cursed them and condemned them as hypocrites. Their pursuit decided the way they walked was a way of resisting God. So, their toil and labor didn’t bring them into the kingdom of heaven. Quite the opposite: They were subject to God’s righteous punishment.

Thus, one cannot enter the kingdom of heaven by expending and running around outwardly, for what God wants is man’s true heart. About the standard of entering the kingdom of heaven, the Lord Jesus also said, “Not every one that said to me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that does the will of my Father which is in heaven. Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in your name? and in your name have cast out devils? and in your name done many wonderful works? And then will I profess to them, I never knew you: depart from me, you that work iniquity” (Matthew 7:21-23). The Lord Jesus told us clearly that only those who do the will of the heavenly Father can enter into the kingdom of heaven, but He didn’t say one who works hard for Him can. People who can spend for the Lord according to His requirements, practice His words and obey His commandments, and love Him with their heart, their soul, their mind, without resistance and betrayal, are ones who follow God’s will. Just like what the Lord Jesus said, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like to it, You shall love your neighbor as yourself” (Matthew 22:37-39). Following God’s will doesn’t lie in how many sacrifices one makes or how many hardships one endures outwardly, or in how he is pious, but in that he possesses reverence and obedience of God in doing everything. People expend for God for loving Him, caring for Him and satisfying Him, without personal intentions; they can put aside their own profits and extravagant desires, no longer consider their own future prospects, and fulfill God’s commission wholeheartedly; they can exalt and testify to God in their work, not working for their status and reputation; when God’s word and work don’t align with their notions, they don’t define or judge them with their conceptions and imaginations but obey and accept them; no matter what trials and tribulations they encounter: the death’s drawing near or being jailed and tortured…, they all obey God’s orchestrations and arrangements without their own choice. Only such people are worthy to enter into God’s kingdom.

Let’s think about those apostles and prophets approved by God. They all not only worked and ran around for the Lord, but more than that, they could put God’s words into practice, obey His words, submit to and accept whatever He did, without their own term or reason. In the end, they gained the approval of God. For example, Peter followed the Lord Jesus all his life, pursued to love God, focused on practicing the Lord’s words, cared for His will and satisfied Him in all things. He didn’t go after future prospects and fate for himself, but endured all sufferings for loving God. Even being crucified, he could still obey unto death. He bore resounding testimony to God before Satan, receiving God’s approval. Or as another example, Abraham. When God’s trial, that he was asked to offer his only son to God, came upon him, he could endure the suffering and give up what he loved to satisfy and obey God even though God’s requirement made him very painful. As he followed God’s way, he finally was commended by God. There is also Job. In the trial of losing all, extremely grieved, he still followed God’s way, not sinning with his lips. He was called by God a person fearing God and shunning evil. The reason why they could stand firm in these great trials was because they had a heart of bearing sufferings, denying themselves, forsaking the flesh to love and satisfy God. They all lived out the testimony of following God’s way, so they gained God’s approval.

Obviously, only if people pursue the truth, practice God’s words, live the reality of God’s words and carry out His will can they enter the kingdom of heaven. If they only work hard, but cannot obey God’s will and haven’t cast off their corrupt disposition to become holy, not being the ones who love, obey and worship God, then never shall they enter the kingdom of heaven.

Recommended: Can Man Enter Kingdom of Heaven by Laboring for the Lord?

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