On the afternoon of March 19, I took a walk as I did every day. During the walk, I heard that there was a broadcast over and over again to inform the residents to take the nucleic acid test downstairs. Suddenly I realized that the coronavirus epidemic became serious again.
On my way home, I met a fruit farmer who sent some apples to the teachers of a vocational school and he had two bags of apples left. I bought them without hesitation.
In the evening, I saw the notice posted by the Community Committee that all residents must participate in the nucleic acid test. The notice didn’t say that the community was going to be closed, but I’d experienced a similar situation two years ago, so I went to the supermarket and bought several kilos of eggs, vermicelli, potatoes and other food which can be stored for a long time.
The next morning, I rushed to a food store and bought a bag of rice, a bag of noodles, and some toilet paper. As soon as I reached home, I heard the news that the community was going to be closed. I felt quite lucky to have bought the necessities in advance.
During the spiritual devotion on the next morning, when I repeated the Lord’s Prayer which is quite familiar to me, “Give us this day our daily bread.”, I suddenly felt extremely grateful to the Lord! I couldn’t help opening my eyes to glance at the food on the table and then continued my prayer. I never even thought about the actual meaning of this “old” prayer, but it became so real to me at that moment. I suddenly started to understand the true meaning of “One does not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.” When the crisis was coming, I tried my best to store more food in case of need. But isn’t it more urgent for me to store something spiritually?
A few years ago, I bought some notebooks and sticky notes to memorize the Bible. At first, I read and transcribed the Bible every day, so as to be able to recite it. But as time goes by, I was occupied by other things and put the Bible aside. Now when I think of it, what a huge loss it is! If I kept reading it, then the number of words that I would have learned from the Bible would be huge by now. As stated in Psalm 119:11, “I treasure your word in my heart, so that I may not sin against you.” It reminds us that it is a must for us to memorize the words in the Bible.
Charles R. Swindoll said it right, “In fact, I think there is no greater benefit in Christian life than memorizing scripture... By reciting scripture, your prayer life is strengthened; Your testimony will be more touching and infectious; Your attitude and vision will change accordingly.”
I agree with the words of Mr. Swindoll above, and keeping God’s word in my heart has not only helped me avoid sin, but also helped me grow in all aspects of my life. Of course, I know that practicing the teachings is more important than trying to recite the scriptures, that is, to go deep into the scriptures and the meaning of the scriptures. Through meditation, I can implement the words of the Bible in my daily life, and even change my own temperament!
- Translated by Nicolas Cao
