HEARTS AFLAME: DIVINE FRIENDSHIP
He will walk with us to the end
By REV WONG SHYUN JYE
When the hour came, Jesus and his apostles reclined at the table.
And he said to them, “I have eagerly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer.”
– Luke 22: 14 -15
Before Jesus’ most intense moments of suffering and death, He spent it with the apostles. He not only spent the time with them, He eagerly desired to partake of the Passover Meal with them.
Jesus loved the apostles. Although He knew their weaknesses and pettiness, he chose them. After choosing them, He walked with them. He talked with them. He taught them. He showed them great miracles. He showed them true compassion.
In our lives we probably have encountered significant persons, whether family or friend, who took us into their counsel, who treated us as precious companions, and we remember them and we feel valued in their presence.
Jesus was such a friend to the apostles. He is such a friend to us.
Our Lord Jesus walked with the apostles all the way till the end. His Name is Immanuel. God with us. He will walk with us to the end.
One hymn writer captured this truth in the hymn ‘I’ve Found a Friend’, of which the last stanza goes like this:
I’ve found a friend, O such a friend!
So kind and true and tender,
So wise a counsellor and guide,
So mighty a defender!
From Him who loves me now so well
What pow’r my soul can sever?
Shall life or death or earth or hell?
No, I am his forever.
It was with this assurance that I stepped into full-time church mission work at the age of 42. I am now 62, with 20 years of exposure in various church ministries including overseas church-planting work.
Part of the exposure include seeing and supporting the ministry of SCGM as it carries the torch of creative and comprehensive love for the world for which Christ died. The words of the hymn still hold true for me. Even if I falter, my eyes look up to the Saviour “who loved me and gave Himself for me”, as St Paul so boldly puts it in Galatians 2:20. May the light of God’s mission shine even more gloriously in the years ahead as SCGM looks up to the Saviour and carries the torch of global mission in this pocket handkerchief of an island nation viz., Singapore.
God is with us. He will walk with us to the end.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR :
REV WONG SHYUN JYE is a Presbyterian pastor who sees service to God as a privilege and human diversity as a precious gift of God. He is also Pastor Emeritus of Bethel Presbyterian Church.
SCGM 40TH ANNIVERSARY DEVOTIONAL CAMPAIGN
40 FRiends of SCGM have been invited to take part in our 40-Day Devotional Project to help raise funds for SCGM’s 40th Anniversary. Each day starting 20 November 2020 to 31 December 2020, SCGM will publish one devotion written by our 40 FRiends in our FundRaising effort and celebration of God’s goodness and provision over the last 40 years!
Through their devotional reflections, we pray that our FRiends of SCGM40 will bless and encourage many to reflect upon God’s Presence, Protection, Provision, Purification and Power in Missions.
