7
Registering in the Book of Life
| Bro Sylvester Tembo (Mzuza, Malawi)
I
t is said, “Today, if you hear his voice, do
not harden your hearts as in the rebellion”.
Here, Israel’s rebellion is given as a warning
to us. “Today”, not any other day, is the right
time to make a decision whether to obey God
and His commandments or not. Did you know
that God’s ways are the only ones that have
power to put anyone’s name in the record of
the Book of Life?
Paul says: “He will render to each one
according to his works: to those who by
patience in well-doing seek for glory and
honour and immortality, he will give eternal
life” (Romans 2:6-7). Also, “We were buried
therefore with him by baptism into death, in
order that, just as Christ was raised from the
dead by the glory of the Father, we, too,
might walk in newness of life”. (Romans 6:4).
Here Christ’s burial denotes the believer’s
burial of dead works (sins) while Christ being
raised denotes the believer’s newness of life.
And so righteousness, which is the newness of
life, will make any of us, to be registered in
the book of life (that is, if we do not grow
weary in doing good). You can see what
matters most in this case is our deeds. That
is, good deeds will enable our names to be
recorded in the book of life and bad deeds
are not be found in the record book, the
Judge will declare, “Away from me you
workers of iniquity, I do not know you.” And
so such a declaration will result in the banish-
ment from before the righteous Judge.
Therefore it is up to us to consider our
conduct and our ways. Why not register your
name in that vital record, the Book of Life.
G
od placed Adam in the Garden of Eden to
look after it and care for it. Adam was not
going to do this alone for Jehovah. God was
time and again coming and inspecting the
work Adam was doing. Adam was working
with God until his fall.
We, as brothers and sisters in Christ have
been mandated by Christ to take care of his
farm - the ecclesia of God. We should do this
voluntarily and devote our time and energy to
bring a big harvest to the Lord at the end of
our tour of work. This is a noble work, and no
individual should claim superiority and work
or labour as a lone ranger; rather we should
emulate the apostles in their approach and
also learn from the humility of our Lord.
The farm is the Lord’s so we should try as
much as possible to work with God in our
daily tasks. The vineyard is big and ripe for
harvest, but the labourers are few. We should
pray earnestly for God’s kingdom to come,
while working with God in our lives. The
apostles worked with God, and the fruits of
their labour can be read in The Acts of the
Apostles, and the epistles. They were quick-
ened by the Holy Spirit and, even today, we
are guided by the spirit word of God - the
Bible. So let us all work with God.
Gardening with God
| Bro Gordon Achieng (Manyuanda, Kenya)
CHINA | Our new brother MA - seen here with
Chinese Bible Basics literature