Knowing My Destiny At 50五十而知天命
Author: Bro Joseph Loh
Translate: Sis Charis
Established at 30, clear-minded at 40, and knowing one’s destiny at 50. In olden times, one is considered to have lived a long life to be 50 years old. At that age, a person would know deep down that his dreams would be hard to fulfil, and so he would not place much emphasis on the outcome of anything he undertakes but seek to follow the will of heaven. I wonder if Confucius (BC 551) had read Psalms 90:10 written by Moses. After all, Moses was called by God when he was 80 (BC 1400) to embark on an extraordinary mission that would be a global sensation. Or perhaps, by Confucius’ time, the life expectancy of human beings has reduced as Confucius lived to an age of 73, which is considerably lesser than Moses who lived to be 120 years old.
Although I turned Fabulous Fifty in the year 2021, I still had the opportunity to participate in structural changes both at work and in church. The new generation of church leaders has surpassed their predecessors. They have done their homework for the proposals they make and are willing to explore new possibilities; and more importantly, they are united and objective in handling matters. The next major challenge in the pipeline for them is to resolve the long-standing issue of land usage for the church, so that the pastors may have a better and long-term space for development.
I have embarked on a new milestone in 2022 - the 4 children of the board of directors at my workplace have taken up positions in the company. In the past, colleagues just address me as ‘Joseph’, but recently, I also got addressed as ‘Uncle Joseph’ by these children, leading me to suddenly feel that I’ve entered the ‘elder’ stage. “As one care for the elderly in their own family, one should not neglect to do the same for those without familial ties; just as one nurtures own children, one ought to do the same for those without blood ties.” The latter part surely applies to my workplace. During one of the long-distance calls with a co-worker in China, the other party got their kids to call me ‘Grandpa’. My wife also teased me once that I should consider entering the “Golden Age Talentime” singing competition.
When I was 20, I once sang a hymn titled “Why have You chosen me” at church. Part of the lyrics read, “Now I give You my life, I’ll live my life for You”. I was simply expressing my feelings to God at that time. I’ve never imagined that 30 years later, God still gives me a chance to serve Him. And since it still pleases God to use me, I believe He will do the same for many other seniors. As Paul said, “forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forth unto those things which are before,” let us encourage one another to receive the rewards God has called us to from above in Christ.
文:罗锦鸿弟兄
三十而立，四十不惑，五十而知天命。古时候能活到50岁可算是长寿，也深知理想已经很难实现，因此做事情就不再追求结果，而是顺应天命。不知道孔子（公元前551）当时有没有参考摩西所写的诗篇九十10。毕竟摩西在80岁时（公元前1400）被神呼召去实行一项轰动全球及改变历史的非寻常任务。或许在孔子的年代，人的寿命已经减少，孔子离世时73岁，比起摩西120年的寿命，可说是天渊之别。
2021年成为“五零高手”的我，仍有机会参与公司与教会结构性转变的工作。教会目前这班年轻领袖们可说是青出于蓝而胜于蓝，他们为所提出的解决方案做了不少功课，也勇于尝试，更可贵的是他们的团结和客观精神。而接下来他们的重大任务，就是怎么突破教会长期以来的土地使用问题，好让牧者们能有更好且长期的发展空间。
2022年的我，人生又开始了新的一段吕程碑，公司所有董事的孩子（共4位）都陆续在集团属下的公司上班。过去一般同事都叫我Joseph，但最近，也会听到这些孩子叫我Uncle Joseph，突然感觉自己已进入“元老”级别。“老吾老及人之老、幼吾幼及人之幼”，后半句也开始在公司用得上了。在一次与远在中国的同事通电话时，他们让孩子称呼我“爷爷”。我太太也曾开玩笑，问我是否想去参加“黄金年华”歌唱比赛。
20岁那年，我在教会曾献过一首诗歌“主为何拣选我”，歌词写到“如今献生命，为主祢而活”。当时我是带着一颗单纯的心向神表达我的心。没想到30年后的今天，神仍给我有服事的机会。神如今仍然使用我，也相信神还会重用许多年长者继续为祂摆上。就如保罗所说：“忘记背后，努力面前，向着标杆直跑！”让我们彼此鼓励，要得神在基督耶稣里从上面召我们来得的奖赏。