Dear Hong Ye:

I also came from Mainland China. I have made a lot of friends in my participation of the ministry of the Gospel, and we too have read the verses from chapter six of the Gospel of Matthew, in which Jesus advises all of us not to worry. I also like to sing the song Flowers In the Fields, which was adapted from these verses. Have you heard of this song? It is beautiful and touching. None of us, however, have ever interpreted Jesus' teachings as telling us "not to sow or reap". Jesus knows too well about our daily life. We not only worry about today, we worry about tomorrow. We not only worry about ourselves, we also worry about our children. Our anxiety is not confined to daily necessities, but it extends to all sorts of desires. Indeed, a lot of our worries are unnecessary. Jesus pities us and He advises us to be spiritually wise and to do away with all the worries about worldly things. He knows we will run into problems, so His advise is "Today's trouble is enough for today" and "Do not worry about tomorrow", as God, who takes care of sparrows and lilies, will also take care of us. No where in the entire Bible is there any encouragement for laziness. Quite contrary, one of the early verses in the Book of Genesis made it clear that Adam, being expelled from the Garden of Eden, and his descendants would have to eat their food by the sweat of their brows (Gen. 3:19), which happens to coincide with what you said about putting in one's own hard work to succeed.

My dear friend, you believe that happiness relies on individual efforts. Suppose this statement is accurate. To us the created, however, our efforts to fight for happiness still have to come from the Creator. Human beings are the spirit of all creatures; nevertheless, the spirit is also given by God. Christians often say a prayer before they eat, and I used to try to figure out the underlying significance of this ritualistic murmuring. The food on the table is certainly what I buy with my money and my money is certainly what I earn with my hard work, but the money in my pocket, however much it may be, would have been useless without the creation of God. Three or four thousand years ago when God brought the Israelites out of Egypt into Canaan, the land flowing with milk and honey, He told them through Moses, the tribal leader of Israel: "Otherwise, when you eat and are satisfied, when you build fine houses and settle down, and when your herds and flocks grow large and your silver and gold increase and all you have is multiplied, then your heart will become proud¡K You may say to yourself, ¡¥My power and the strength of my hands have produced this wealth for me.' But remember the Lord your God, for it is he who gives you the ability to produce wealth." (Deut. 8:12-18) If a man has the slightest wisdom, he will never boast that his wealth comes solely from his own individual efforts because he must have seen that other people are making the same kind of efforts but they are not necessarily as wealthy. What makes him wealthy has to be the grace of God. The popular Chinese saying "Man plans and Heaven accomplishes" has a similar meaning.

All being said, my dear friend, our difference lies in whether or not we believe in the Lord. We listen to Jesus' words, not because His words are graceful and nice to hear, but because they are the truth. God has long given each one of us a willing heart to search for Him. I hope you will also find heavenly happiness soon.

The author came from Shanghai and is now studying theology in Los Angeles.