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Today's staff devotion at my workplace is based on Revelation Chapter 20 (which speaks of the "doomsday" or "judgment day" that most people know it by):

⁴I saw thrones on which were seated those who had been given authority to judge. And I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded because of their testimony for Jesus and because of the word of God. They had not worshiped the beast or his image and had not received his mark on their foreheads or their hands. They came to life and reigned with Christ a thousand years. ⁵(The rest of the dead did not come to life until the thousand years were ended.) This is the first resurrection. ⁶Blessed and holy are those who have part in the first resurrection. The second death has no power over them, but they will be priests of God and of Christ and will reign with him for a thousand years.

¹²And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Another book was opened, which is the book of life. The dead were judged according to what they had done as recorded in the books. ¹³The sea gave up the dead that were in it, and death and Hades gave up the dead that were in them, and each person was judged according to what he had done. ¹⁴Then death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. The lake of fire is the second death. ¹⁵If anyone's name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire.

Why do we run the race?
It was shared that although we do not know when the second coming of Jesus will be but we, as Christians, can prepare for it. My colleague related to us how a christian has asked him one day at a service: "since we are christians and saved by Grace, why do we need to continue to go to church, take part in ministry?"

Registration opens
His response was: "As christians, yes we are saved by Grace, but we need to continue to run the race." With the second coming, it almost seems that resurrection is like primary school registration; conducted in phase: phase 1 (unconditional resurrection) for those who have been faithful Christians and phase 2 (where "books were opened" and each is to give an account of the things they have done in their lives and then their names will be checked against that in the Book of Life) for all others. Those whose names were not found in the Book of Life will be "thrown into the lake of fire".

Am I Ready?
This sharing has caused me to really think: is the Second Coming going to be here soon? The world really seems upside down and I really do not know how things are going to go on like that... SARS, tsunami, dengue, bird flu, mad cow disease etc... and if the Second Coming is indeed coming soon, am I ready for it? Will I be in "phase 1" or in "phase 2" where I have to give a account of my whole life as "books are opened" and my name to be checked in the Book of Life?

Theology vs Me-ology
On the other hand, I am trying to remind myself that I am worshipping God not because of this imminent judging but because I have seen miracles happen in my life after I went back to church, and because I really glorify and thank God for all the wonderful works.

I have recently come to realize that it is amazing how my neck pain, which has been troubling me for years (and I had pillows but to no avail), has gone and I am relatively a happier person now than I was a couple of months ago. My life continue to be blessed and I continue to see the wonders of God's work and creation... I continue to glorify God for all these. Words cannot explain some of the little miracles that has happened...

• When I left my last job depressed and not knowing where I will be going, I prayed for guidance and was "offered" a job in a christian organization. I eventually landed up with a perfect job; good job prospects, good working environment, nice people, good professional development opportunities, good spiritual development opportunities, near my house.
• When I was down and out, I was brought back to attend church and every struggle that I had during that personal crisis period, the message from sermon that week seems to address it (this happened more than once).
• My dramatic "homecoming" to Christ (cross-reference: here)
  
• How despite being new to the job, I continue to meet and be blessed with nice colleagues who helped me to avoid big mistakes
• How despite being lost when given projects, the right volunteers with the right skills seem to come along everytime I prayed for it
• How I was reminded that I need to keep my promise to God and came down with food poisoning when I failed to deliver a promise on the same day
  

I guess I don't want to be the "Cat-type Christian" (highlighted in my other blog entry) and be worshipping for the wrong reasons. I wanted to be worshipping and glorifying God in appreication of what he has done for us and having sent his only son to die on the cross for us to pay for our sins, so that we can come closer to God. Hmmm... food for thought...