Question: If we know that the Lord is the only One who can fill us, why do we look for other things to fill us?
Answer:This is a very good question. At the very beginning of the Bible we see two trees. The first tree is the tree of life, signifying the Lord Himself. To our thought, that is adequate and sufficient for us. Why then was there another tree, the tree of the knowledge of good and evil? Why were there two trees, one signifying the Lord and the other implying the world and other items?
Throughout the whole history of mankind, there have always been two choices in the universe. Even today in our living— in family life, school life, and married life— there are two choices always before us. This is because in the universe there are two sources. The first source is God, and the other one is Satan. Satan was there before the restoration and further creation of the earth. In the original creation Satan was there as an archangel, God’s servant, serving God under His authority. However, he rebelled and became Satan. The name Satanmeans “adversary,” an enemy not on the outside but on the inside. Satan became God’s adversary, a kind of enemy within the limit of God’s kingdom. Therefore, from that time to today and until the end of this age, there have been two sources in the universe—God and Satan.
It was under this situation that man was created, so God had to put two signs in front of man: the tree of life, signifying God, and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, signifying Satan. Today we have the Lord in front of us, and we also have something else in front of us. We may call it the world, or we may call it sin, self, the flesh, or the other negative things. These things in two categories, belonging to two sources, are always in front of us.
God created man with a free will. He did not force Adam to choose the tree of life. God simply placed Adam in front of the tree of life and warned him that the other tree, the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, would bring him death if he touched it and ate of it. That was a warning, reminding man not to choose that tree, because if he did, the issue would be death. We have to choose the first tree, the one that brings us life.
Today it is the same. The Lord is here, and so many things other than the Lord, belonging to the second source, are also here. In the Bible and even in our hymnal there are many warnings to remind us that we should not take anything that belongs to the second source. We have to attach ourselves, and even cleave, to the first source, which is the very God.
Question: What kind of meeting should we hold on the campus? We usually have a Bible study once a week, and not many attend it.
Answer: You should attend the meetings as often as you can. Whatever the meeting is, just attend it. Attending a meeting only once a week is for Christians who are over sixty, not sixteen. I am eighty-four years old, so it may be good enough for me to attend a meeting only once a week, but in actuality I still attend all the meetings.
The meeting on campus is your meeting. It is hard to say what kind of meeting it should be. It depends on your burden. You have to pray desperately. Do not do anything in a light way. You must do everything in the most meaningful way. You have to treasure the weekly meeting, because it uses your time, and you should not waste time. Therefore, you have to pray much to see how the Lord will lead you. What you do will also be according to the situation. Do you have a burden to pass on Christ to others, that is, to preach the gospel? Are there some unbelieving students around you? You have to consider all these factors. Then you can make a decision.
Regardless of what you do, in your teenage years you should not do anything in a light way. As long as you can be deeply impressed that your teenage years are the golden years, that is good enough.
Question: I did not come to the Word much in my teenage years. What should we older ones do?
Answer: I am sorry if you are now past your teenage years. The college-aged brothers and sisters should take the teenagers as a good pattern and be as busy and diligent as they are. If you did not spend your teenage years properly, then follow the examples around you and go back to be a teenager again. The Lord Jesus told us to learn of the children (Matt. 18:2-4). Even though I am eighty-four years old, every day I try my best to learn of the little children. In a sense, I am going back to be a little child. Even those who are now fifty years old should go back to be a teenager. Learn of the pattern. We, the older ones, need to love the Lord just like a young child. We need to learn of the children and have a new start.
Praise the Lord! The Lord be with you and bless you to the uttermost.