The Joy of Giving

Yesterday, Friday, 27 January 2023 was the 6th day of Chinese New Year, the Year of the Rabbit I was born 84 years ago

I was then waiting for a bus opposite the Kuala Lumpur Hospital yesterday morning when I saw a destitute and homeless man in very dirty clothes sleeping beneath the pedestrian bridge connecting the hospital and the pavement opposite. He was so dirty looking, probably he hasn’t bathed for several weeks or months.

My heart sank for him. I asked my wife who was sitting beside me at the bus stand about 30 metres away from this man if she can give some money to him?  She gave me 2 ringgit which I promptly walked over to the corner beneath the bridge where this man was sleeping to wake him up. He was barely conscious opening only one eye which was red and inflamed.  I spoked briefly to him and placed the two little ringgit beside him and walked back to my wife.

 I could not give more since my wife holds all my money leaving me with no purse on my own. She pays for all our household needs leaving me with no spending money on my own. However, I do not mind as we are sharing our needs equally together although all the money was 100 % mine. She is not working since she married me, and all the sources of income were and still totally mine till today.

When I went back to my wife after giving just two ringgits to the man, I told her I do not mind giving more, as much as I could afford as his needs are far more than mine even though I am not rich. I told her this gives me tremendous joy in my heart as Jesus wanted. I reminded her of the parable of the rich man and Lazarus told by Jesus in Luke 16:19-31.

I told my wife I would not mind giving much more to him. We have a lot more, but he has none.  I told her it is giving and sharing that gives me tremendous joy and happiness especially now on the 6^th day of my Year of the Rabbit.  I told her I would never be happy even if I were to have all the wealth in this world but knowing many others out there like this  homeless man in the streets who may not have even a single meal for the day, let alone a place to bathe and clean himself, and to wear clean clothes daily. He has not even some very basic shelter or in any home except under a pedestrian bridge.

I explained to her we have sufficient food to eat, water to drink, a bathroom to urinate and ease ourselves and to bathe and wear clean clothes daily, many thanks to my wife to do all the laundering and ironing. 

When I explained these to her, she promptly gave me another RM 3 to give it to the man which I immediately limped my way to him. I limped because I suffer from a chronic leg ulcer for many years. 

My only need is just to be comfortable without carrying other unnecessary material burdens in life. I told my wife I do not mind giving that man as much as I can as his needs are far more than ours. We have all those simple things we need and we are more than comfortable without unnecessary carrying heavy material burdens to maintain them.   

I know unnecessary material wealth can only last us at maximum a hundred years of our exceedingly short life only to instantly leave them all behind to crumble the instant our hearts stop pumping and we breathe our last only to face eternity with nothing. The rich and famous may not like this and will strongly deny this.  Unfortunately, this is gospel truth, and it shall always remain eternally true till kingdom comes. Others read our lives, not the religion we follow, or the religious books we read. It's our lives we lead that tell all. 

If we believe we have no soul, then all those material wealth we acquired in life will instantly come to naught as they crumbled away over the years after our death.  Our bodies shall be decomposed by bacteria if buried, eaten by worms and maggots if exposed, or reduced into ashes by the flames of cremation. 

If we think we have no soul, we will completely have no memory of our selfish enjoyments in the past. But if we believe there is a soul that is believed in every culture, by every race, society, religion and by all civilizations for over 500,000 years, that would be even far worse if we are selfish and uncaring while we are still in this world. We would face an eternity of sufferings in hell like that rich and uncaring man as clearly told by Jesus in His parable of the rich man and Lazarus when they both died. Jesus clearly hinted the existence of a soul carried away when we die. 

I remember when I was a student in India that is a very poor country. I used to see little children wearing thin worn clothes roaming in the streets begging in late winter nights which is very cold in northern India. Being just a student, I did not have much money, but those children have far less.

Out of love and compassion I gave them a few rupees I could only afford, knowing well it does not help them much, but at least they would not go hungry for that night.

But I was rewarded immensely by the joy and peace in my heart when I returned to my hostel bed to sleep. I have so much peace and joy in my heart knowing I have given my best for the child at least to have a simple meal for a cold night when I was comfortable in my hostel even though she might be hungry again the next day. 

I would think of the children all night long. I could not sleep but just the thought sharing my heart with them. It was so peaceful to me, a joy for me no money could buy. That was what I wanted.  It has always been like that all my life.

I have never asked for anything more than just simple living. When I was in school all I asked was just to get a simple school certificate to become a clerk to earn a small sum of money to live as simple a life as possible without possessing any material wealth to burden me. But God gave me more than what I asked. I am always reminded of the adage that says, “we complain we have no shoes till we see someone without feet”.

I have never asked for any wealth to be given to me in my prayers except to be granted understanding. I just want a very, very small place in heaven when my soul leaves my body, and I am very aware this is going to be very difficult because of our material possessions. I am very aware of this verse as an example:  

“Jesus looked at him and said, 'How hard it is for the rich to enter the kingdom of God!  Indeed, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.' Those who heard this asked, 'Who then can be saved?'  Jesus replied, 'What is impossible with men is possible with God.' Peter said to him, 'We have left all we had to follow you!' 'I tell you the truth,' Jesus said to them, 'no one who has left home or wife or brothers or parents or children for the sake of the kingdom of God   will fail to receive many times as much in this age and, in the age to come, eternal life.” (Luke 18:24-30).

Jesus said, “If anyone wants to come with Me, he must deny himself, take up his cross daily, and follow Me” (Luke 9:23).

Jesus also spoke on love and compassion in the parable of the Good Samaritan

 (Luke 10:25-37)

Jesus lived a life of total sacrifice. He had nothing in life when He arrived to this world. He was born of a humble birth in a manger among animals. He lived a life in total humility, love, compassion, forgiveness. His awesome miracles bestowed upon Him by God, His Heavenly Father are beyond comprehension. He was able to bypass all the laws controlling the chemistries of life, disease, and death. His overwhelming curative powers are beyond our understanding of science and medicine.   Even the storms obeyed Him to calm down.

(Mark 4:35-41).

Obviously, He did not come from this world.

“My Kingdom Is Not of This World”

(John 18:36)

He told His disciples to leave everything behind and follow Him (His style of living), and they left everything behind to follow Him. He was not even married to have a wife and family to burden Him. His sacrifice was totally to God, His Father in heaven.

How many Christians today, including almost all the rich church pastors today who took high salaries from offerings of followers of their churches actually meant for the church are prepared to go out to preach completely empty-handed without any income or have family to support?

 How many of them preach these values and lifestyles to their church followers? How many has ever taught their church followers all the verses contained in the Sermon on the Mount in the Gospel of Matthew from chapters 5, 6, and 7? Almost none I believe, as I have not heard them taught, not even once in all the churches I attended in my life. They avoided all those teachings of Jesus, and instead preach almost mainly from the New Testament what Paul taught after Jesus left because Paul was the first preacher to the early churches. Paul too taught almost the easy way out like the pastors of modern churches. As Jesus said, very few will find their way into the Kingdom of God just like the rich man and Lazarus.

Mark's Gospel records: "At this the man's face fell. He went away sad, because he had great wealth" (Mark 10:22). The man is moving away now, and Jesus, who Mark says "loved him," is watching him as he goes.

I can hear a sigh, a sorrow, in Jesus' voice as he reflects on the encounter. "How hard it is for the rich to enter the kingdom of God!" (18:24).

On his note, I too fall badly on the glory of God, and I need to improve tremendously. I know it is extremely difficult to leave everything behind, but it is possible with God provision. 

However, I am encouraged by these verses:

Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they?  Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life^?

 “And why do you worry about clothes? See how the flowers of the field grow. They do not labour or spin.  Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendour was dressed like one of these. If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you—you of little faith?  So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them.  But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.  Therefore, do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own (Matthew 6:26-34). These verses too were never taught in any of the churches today I have attended. The all avoided them and taught easy verses over and over again such as

“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life” (John 3:16 16). It is a million times just to believe in theory, but a billion times harder to put into practice.

I remember I was given two cars by a patient whom I helped for free. I already have a car, but then I was burdened to maintain three cars. I used them for less than six months and gave them all away including my personal car for free. The same when I have 3 motorcycles. I gave 2 away, and now keep only one motorcycle, a bicycle that is the most efficient machine ever invented and a motorized bicycle that I never use. 

I walk, or ride to a nearby shop on my motorbike or on a bicycle. Further than that, I go by bus or my children will drive me there because if Jesus could walked, rode on a boat, or rode on an ass into Jerusalem, I cannot see why is it humbling for me to ride on a bicycle just as students and even professors ride on bicycles at the University of Cambridge where I have also done some postdoctoral studies. 

I already have a simple house to stay comfortably, and a shophouse that used to burden me to upkeep and to maintain. I disposed that shop lot at a great loss with no regrets as I do not want any anything physical and material to burden my life.  I only want something as simple as possible to allow Jesus to come into my life to take away all my burdens to give me rest especially at old age. 

When Mother Teresa of Calcutta won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1979, reporters around the world asked her what she was going to do with all those money from the Nobel Prize. She promptly replied this: 

"What money? All I have is this saree, and a pail to wash my saree”. 

That very famous, wise, and beautiful humble answer she gave that resounded by newspapers around the world.  This was God guided answer for Mother Teresa to field the hordes of news reporters surrounding her. 

“But if we have food and clothing, we will be content with that. Those who want to get rich fall into temptation and a trap and into many foolish and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil”

(1 Timothy 6:8-10)

It is not the money that is the root of all evils, but it is the LOVE of money over and above what we actually need for a simple life that is the root of all evils.

There is nothing like the immense joy we receive by giving and sharing as it is more blessed to give than to receive (Acts 20:35).

Trust my life experience. It pays back many times.

lim ju boo