By Zhang Tao, China

I was born into a rural family. When I was little, our family was so poor that just getting enough to eat was a struggle and everyone looked down on us. I thought to myself: “When I grow up, I’ll make lots of money and make life easier for my family, then people won’t look down on us or mock us.” Not long after, my mom got sick, and we had to use all our savings. Friends and relatives worried we’d come to them for money, so they’d make excuses to avoid us. Just when we’d run out of options, my aunt preached the gospel of Lord Jesus to us. My mom miraculously recovered after finding the Lord, and my faith began then, too. Though I was still young at the time, my dreams of wealth never changed. To make more money and make a name for myself, at 13, I started selling matches, cigarettes, and sunflower seeds at the market; at 15, I started setting up stalls all over the place; and at 18, I started trying my hand in the lumber business. But because I didn’t have enough capital, my brother took me to a classmate’s house in the county to borrow money. I saw this wealthy family with all their appliances, eating watermelons and using air-con on hot summer days, and I envied them deeply. In our home we didn’t even have an electric fan. No matter how hot it got, we could only use hand fans, and we only had well water to quench our thirst. At that time I wondered why our families were so different. The wealthy were living well—when would I be able to live like them? From then on, my desire to live a life on top intensified. After I married, I still wasn’t making much money from my work. My wife and I would go elsewhere for work, and pedal a rickshaw to earn more on the side. But years passed, and what we were earning was still barely enough to struggle by on.

In February, 2000, I’d seen some people making a lot of money as commercial agents in the clothing business and I wanted in on it, too. I eventually worked my way up to general agent for the province. At first, no customers were coming in to place orders, so I started going door to door to introduce my products. To get the business going, I took care of every single thing myself: buying the products, billing the customers, packing and shipping orders…. I was working nearly 16 hours every day. I was often too busy to even eat. But after a few years of hard work, I finally started making some money. I bought a car and a house, and my peers, friends, and family all looked up to me and praised me for my abilities. People would greet me everywhere I went. When I went home for the lunar new year, people from all over looked at me with admiration and they called me “Mr. Big Shot” wherever I went. All this praise really made me happy and made all the suffering feel worth it. But because I was busy all year round, I ate very irregularly and developed a serious stomach condition that caused me sharp pain whenever I ate. Because of my extended overworking, one of my lumbar discs also became deformed, and sometimes my hands would go numb or cramp up, but to grow the business and earn more money, I set my health conditions aside and carried on with the business. Sometimes I felt like my body really couldn’t take it, but when I saw the sales figures growing year-on-year and that the company was turning over more than a million yuan per year, I’d forget about my condition and keep on working. One year, our branch ranked second in the country for sales, and we were awarded over 300,000 yuan in bonuses alone. The other agents all looked at me with envy. The company then gave me an even higher sales target and demanded I push to be No. 1. This was a goal I’d been reaching for too, as the better my performance, the more I earned and the better my bonuses. I would gain others’ admiration no matter where I went and my reputation would become greater. But just as I was feeling very pleased with myself and pushing for the top spot, my health was deteriorating. My stomach condition kept flaring up, my back often hurt, and I couldn’t stand for long. I went to the hospital for a diagnosis and the doctor told me: “Your lumbar disc has become deformed. You need to rest more and not work too hard. If you don’t follow my advice, it’s likely that the nerve compression will lead to paralysis.” I thought, “I am so busy with work, when am I supposed to rest?” I just kept dragging my ailing body along as I worked. The first thing I thought about in the morning was how to make money and after a busy day, I’d often fall asleep as soon as my head hit the pillow. My wife said I valued money more than life. During the day, I’d be so busy with work that I’d forget about my conditions, but when I lay in bed at night unable to sleep, tossing and turning because of the pain, I’d think: “I’ve earned some money, I’m living more comfortably, and I’m admired by others, but I’m falling apart and I’m not even 40. Who knows what state I’ll be in when I’m old.” The pain of my conditions, the mental pressure, along with the deceit and infighting in my professional life often brought me unbearable pain and exhaustion. Why had my wealth not made me happy? I felt no inner peace or calm and there was nothing I could really rely on. Had I really lived my whole life empty and in pain, running around after money and renown? Was this the life I’d wanted?

In my pain and confusion, my wife and I received Almighty God’s gospel of the last days in 2009. By reading God’s word and living the church life, I understood that God has incarnated in the last days to express truths and do the work of judging and cleansing people, and that only those who accept His judgment and cleansing can be led to a good destination. My wife and I quickly became certain of God’s work of the last days. I read God’s word eagerly every day, enjoying the watering of His word. My heart was filled with peace and joy. At that time, I wondered: “All I wanted before was to get rich and live a happy life, but after I made my money, why was I empty and in pain instead of happy?” I read a passage of Almighty God’s word that resolved my confusion. Almighty God says, “There is an enormous secret in your heart, of which you have never been aware, for you have been living in a world without light. Your heart and your spirit have been wrested away by the evil one. Your eyes are obscured by darkness, and you can see neither the sun in the sky nor that twinkling star of the night. Your ears are clogged with deceitful words, and you hear neither the thunderous voice of Jehovah, nor the sound of the waters flowing from the throne. You have lost everything that is rightfully yours, everything that the Almighty bestowed upon you. You have entered an endless sea of affliction, with no strength to save yourself, no hope of survival, and all you do is struggle and rush about…. From that moment onward, you were doomed to be afflicted by the evil one, far away from the blessings of the Almighty, out of reach of the provisions of the Almighty, walking down a road of no return. … You have no idea from whence you came, why you were born, or why you will die. You look upon the Almighty as a stranger; you do not know His origins, let alone all that He has done for you. Everything that comes from Him has become hateful to you; you neither cherish it nor know its value. You walk alongside the evil one, starting from the day you received the provision of the Almighty. You have endured thousands of years of tempests and storms with the evil one, and you stand together with him against the God who was the source of your life. You know nothing of repentance, let alone that you have arrived at the brink of perishing. You have forgotten that the evil one has seduced and afflicted you; you have forgotten your beginnings. Thus has the evil one afflicted you at every step of the way up until the present day. Your heart and your spirit are benumbed and decayed. You have ceased to complain about the vexations of the world of man; no longer do you believe the world to be unjust. Still less do you care whether the Almighty exists. This is because you long ago deemed the evil one to be your true father and cannot be apart from him. This is the secret within your heart” (The Word, Vol. 1. The Appearance and Work of God. The Sighing of the Almighty). Man was made by God, and we used to live under His care and protection. But due to Satan’s deception and corruption, man betrayed and strayed from God, had no idea what the value and meaning of life is, went along with Satan’s evil pursuits of wealth, renown, and earthly pleasure, and lived within Satan’s abuse. I’d been influenced by Satan’s sway. I’d just wanted to get rich and live on top, and in the pursuit of more money, I’d wholly neglected my body. Even when my conditions put me through unbearable pain, I wouldn’t let go of any chance to make money. I was living an empty, painful life all thanks to Satan’s trickery and harm. God has incarnated once again in the last days to issue truths, to save man from the influence of Satan, to let man escape Satan’s corruption and harm, and to lead man to a good destination. Thanks to God’s salvation and His mercy for me, I was lucky to be able to welcome the Lord’s return and hear the voice of the Creator. After this, I slowly let go of business matters, and spent more time going to gatherings and reading God’s word. Gradually, I began to understand some truths. Almighty God expressing truths in the last days and doing the work of judgment is the final stage of God’s 6,000-year management plan, and those who don’t accept God’s judgment in the last days and are not cleansed will perish in the disasters and be punished in the end. But there were many around me who hadn’t yet heard God’s voice and who hadn’t welcomed the Lord’s return. This really worried me. And when I saw others preaching the gospel and testifying about God while I was still tangled up in company matters and not doing a duty, I felt I was letting God down, but I didn’t know what to do. So, I brought my thoughts and problems before God in prayer, asking Him to lead me through this situation.

After praying, I read a passage of God’s word. Almighty God says, “Are you aware of the burden on your shoulders, your commission, and your responsibility? Where is your sense of historic mission? How will you adequately serve as a master in the next age? Do you have a strong sense of masterhood? How would you explain the master of all things? Is it really the master of all living creatures and of all physical things in the world? What plans do you have for the progress of the next phase of the work? How many people are waiting for you to be their shepherd? Is your task a heavy one? They are poor, pitiable, blind, and at a loss, wailing in the darkness—where is the way? How they yearn for the light, like a shooting star, to suddenly descend and dispel the forces of darkness that have oppressed man for so many years. Who can know the full extent to which they anxiously hope, and how they pine, day and night, for this? Even on a day when the light flashes past, these deeply suffering people remain imprisoned in a dark dungeon without hope of release; when will they weep no longer? Terrible is the misfortune of these fragile spirits who have never been granted rest, and long have they been kept bound in this state by merciless bonds and frozen history. And who has heard the sound of their wailing? Who has looked upon their miserable state? Has it ever occurred to you how grieved and anxious God’s heart is? How can He bear to see innocent mankind, whom He created with His own hands, suffering such torment? Human beings, after all, are the victims who have been poisoned. And although man has survived to this day, who would have known that mankind has long been poisoned by the evil one? Have you forgotten that you are one of the victims? Are you not willing to strive, out of your love for God, to save these survivors? Are you not willing to devote all of your energy to repaying God, who loves mankind like His own flesh and blood? When all is said and done, how would you interpret being used by God to live your extraordinary life? Do you really have the resolve and confidence to live the meaningful life of a pious, God-serving person?” (The Word, Vol. 1. The Appearance and Work of God. How Should You Attend to Your Future Mission?). From God’s word, I sensed His urgent will. God’s work of saving mankind will conclude very soon, but there are still so many who haven’t heard His voice or welcomed His appearance, and who are still suffering in darkness, particularly those who have believed in the Lord for many years. They have been hoping for the appearance and work of Lord Jesus to save them from darkness, but because they’ve been misled by pastors and elders, they haven’t yet welcomed the Lord’s return and are in desperate need of someone to testify God’s work of the last days to them and to lead them before God to accept His salvation. As a created being, I must have reason and a conscience, I must heed God’s will to repay His love, and I must bring more people before Him to accept His salvation. This is the most righteous cause and my unshakable duty and obligation. Faced with God’s will and requirements, I knew that if I remained indifferent and unable to repay God’s love, this’d be truly without conscience or reason, and I wouldn’t be worth calling human. I realized the scale of my responsibility and urgently wanted to preach the gospel. So, I talked to my wife about handing off the company so that I’d have more time and energy to pursue the truth and do a duty. She said to me: “We’ve enjoyed so much of God’s grace and blessing these years, we should do our best to spread the kingdom gospel. If we can’t step up to the plate and work with God to repay His love through a duty, then we’re truly letting Him down and our consciences won’t be able to cope.” Hearing my wife say this reaffirmed my decision to let go of the company. But when I returned and saw the workers busily packing and dispatching goods, I felt a sudden sense of loss for this company I’d built with my own two hands. It hadn’t been easy to build it up to this point and to acquire all these assets, so I felt reluctant to hand it all over. I thought about my years pedaling a rickshaw, selling my labor, being treated like a workhorse, and about how after all these years of hard work, I now had my own company, had built up a large consumer base, and had secured myself a stable income. If I really let go of the company, wouldn’t I lose my entire source of income and quickly chew through my savings until I had nothing left? Would I end up living the same life of suffering as before? People wouldn’t just not admire me; they’d look down on me. But spending my days doing business and earning money left me no time to do a duty and I couldn’t calm myself before God. How was I supposed to attain the truth with this kind of faith? Later, I thought of a solution. I’d contract the company to two managers to handle the administration and management so the agency of the company still belonged to me. This way, after subtracting their management dividends, I’d still be getting 1.6 million yuan per year. Then I’d have a stable income and time to do a duty. I’d kill two birds with one stone, right? But later on, I worried about them teaming up against me. Then not only would I have no income, I could lose the initial value of the company, too. Wouldn’t this just be rubbing salt in my wounds? At this thought, I still couldn’t bear to hand off the company.

I brought the matter of the company handoff before God in prayer: “God! I want to do my duty well to repay Your love, but I’m afraid of being destitute if I hand over my company. I’m caught between a rock and a hard place and don’t know what to do. Please guide me in finding a path of practice.” After this, I read a passage of God’s word. God says, “If I were to place some money in front of you right now and give you the freedom to choose—and if I did not condemn you for your choice—then most of you would choose the money and forsake the truth. The better among you would give up the money and choose the truth reluctantly, while those in-between would seize the money in one hand and the truth in the other. Would your true colors thus not become self-evident? When choosing between the truth and anything to which you are loyal, you would all make this choice, and your attitude would remain the same. Is that not so? Are there not many among you who have seesawed between right and wrong? In contests between positive and negative, black and white, you are surely aware of the choices that you have made between family and God, children and God, peace and disruption, riches and poverty, status and ordinariness, being supported and being cast aside, and so on. Between a peaceful family and a broken one, you chose the former, and you did so without any hesitation; between riches and duty, you again chose the former, even lacking the will to return to shore; between luxury and poverty, you chose the former; when choosing between your sons, daughters, wives and husbands, and Me, you chose the former; and between notion and truth, you once again chose the former. Faced with all manner of your evil deeds, I have simply lost faith in you. It simply astounds Me that your hearts are so resistant to being softened. Many years of dedication and effort have apparently brought Me nothing more than your abandonment and despair, but My hopes for you grow with each passing day, for My day has been completely laid bare before everyone. Yet you persist in seeking dark and evil things, and refuse to loosen your grip on them. What, then, will be your outcome? Have you ever given careful consideration to this? If you were asked to choose again, what then would be your position? Would it still be the former? Would you still bring Me disappointment and wretched sorrow? Would your hearts still possess the sole modicum of warmth? Would you still be unaware of what to do to comfort My heart? At this moment, what do you choose? Will you submit to My words or be weary of them?” (The Word, Vol. 1. The Appearance and Work of God. To Whom Are You Loyal?). It felt like I was face to face with God and He was earnestly asking me whether I would choose wealth or choose truth. God had hopes for my answer, but I had chosen wealth. Thinking of this, I was filled with guilt. I thought about some of my brothers and sisters. Upon understanding God’s will, they were able to give up everything to follow God, do a duty, and spread God’s kingdom gospel. But as for me, my faith just comprised of gathering and reading God’s word. I didn’t do the duty of a created being and I felt devoid of conscience and reason. I didn’t want to delay my duty, but I didn’t want to cut off my source of income, either. I was as God revealed: “those in-between would seize the money in one hand and the truth in the other.” I wanted to have my cake and eat it too, so I couldn’t gain any truth. In the end I’d just end up being cast out by God. I thought of Lot’s wife fleeing Sodom. She was turned into a pillar of salt because she couldn’t let go of wealth and looked back, becoming a symbol of shame. In what way was I any different from her? I recalled the Lord Jesus said: “No man, having put his hand to the plough, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God” (Luke 9:62). God had given me countless possessions and had kept me fed and clothed, but I still craved wealth and wasn’t doing a duty. I was like a snake trying to eat an elephant, never satisfied! I was willing to struggle and give my life for wealth but unwilling to give anything for the truth. I was truly unworthy of God’s kingdom. I later read a passage of God’s word: “Awaken, brothers! Awaken, sisters! My day will not be delayed; time is life, and to seize back time is to save life! The time is not far off! If you fail the college entrance examination, you can study and retake it as many times as you like. However, My day will brook no further delay. Remember! Remember! I urge you with these good words. The end of the world unfolds before your very eyes, and great disasters rapidly draw near. Which is more important: your life, or your sleep, your food and drink and clothing? The time has come for you to weigh these things. Be doubtful no longer, and do not shy away from certainty!” (The Word, Vol. 1. The Appearance and Work of God. Utterances of Christ in the Beginning, Chapter 30). Each of God’s words pulled at my heartstrings and reminded me whether it was life or wealth that was more important. In the last days, God has incarnated to issue truths and do the work of judgment. This was a good chance to do my duty, gain the truth, and be perfected by God. If I missed this chance, I’d regret it forever. When the great disasters come, what use would all my possessions be then? Wouldn’t I still die? I then brought the matter of the company handoff before God in prayer once again and made up my mind to hand off the company, asking God to open up a path for me.

My father-in-law flew into a rage once he found out I was handing off the company. He scowled at me, saying: “You’re willing to just hand over this company you’ve worked so hard for to someone else? The company’s turning over more than 2 million yuan per year; I’m not going to let you just give it away!” Hearing him say this left me pretty shaken. Business had exceeded my expectations and been particularly good this year and there was no telling how good things might get. If I just handed off the business like this, and we ended up eating through our cash, who of our friends and family would still respect us? I considered handing off responsibilities while still holding onto some stock so that we’d still receive some dividend income each year. I put my proposal to my wife who said to me: “I say you give it all up so that your mind doesn’t get caught up on the shares. Then you’ll have energy to pursue the truth and your duty won’t be delayed. When the disasters come, no amount of money can save us. You’ve got to be clear on this.” She went on: “The most important thing for us to do now is to spend more time pursuing the truth. Gaining the truth and preparing good deeds are more important than material wealth.” My children echoed their support for this view and said I should hand off the company. I kept mulling it over for several days. I brought the matter before God in prayer: “God! I know in theory that whether a person lives a life of wealth or poverty is governed and decided by You, but I’m finding it really difficult to actually give up my wealth. Please give me the faith to make the right decision.”

After this, I read a passage of God’s word. God says, “Every day, you calculate how to get something from Me. Every day, you count how much wealth and how many material things you have gained from Me. Every day, you await ever more blessings to come down upon you so that you may enjoy, in greater quantities and of a higher standard, the things that may be enjoyed. It is not Me who is in your thoughts at each and every moment, nor the truth that comes from Me, but rather your husband or wife, your sons, daughters, and the things you eat and wear. You think of how you can gain ever greater, ever higher enjoyment. But even when you have filled your stomach to bursting, are you still not a corpse? Even when, outwardly, you adorn yourselves in such beautiful apparel, are you not still a walking corpse devoid of life? You toil for the sake of your stomach, until your hair is streaked with gray, yet none of you sacrifice a single hair for My work. You are constantly on the go, taxing your body and racking your brain, for the sake of your own flesh, and for your sons and daughters—yet not one of you shows any worry or concern for My will. What is it that you still hope to gain from Me?” (The Word, Vol. 1. The Appearance and Work of God. Many Are Called, but Few Are Chosen). God’s word revealed my exact state. On deciding between wealth and duty, I was always hesitant. I always wanted to see to my own material goods before considering expending myself for God. I saw that I was too mixed up in my faith and that I didn’t sincerely expend myself for God. God works with all His heart to save mankind, even giving His life for us. But I never devoted my full heart to God. I never understood or heeded His will at all. To me, wealth was more important than anything. I saw that I’d been truly selfish! I recalled the Lord Jesus said: “For what is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?” (Matthew 16:26). No matter how much money I earned, material wealth I enjoyed, or admiration I gained, if I didn’t gain the truth or change my corrupt disposition, what did any of it mean? Wouldn’t I still perish in the end? No amount of money could save my life or buy me a chance at salvation. I recalled one world-famous entrepreneur who had assets in nations all over the world, and whose companies made him richer by the second. He was fabulously wealthy, traveled the world, and enjoyed a life of material pleasure, but no matter the wealth or possessions he obtained, he felt empty. He couldn’t find any value or meaning in life, so he killed himself by jumping in the ocean. The more one pursues wealth and renown, the more spiritually distraught and empty one feels, and in the end, it destroys a person. I thought of how I used to work non-stop all day like a machine for money and renown, and how it made me so sick as a result. I couldn’t eat or sleep properly, and I lived in constant pain. God has come to do the work of judging man in the last days, but I was worrying about falling into poverty and being looked down on. I just couldn’t let go of my money. No matter how much money I made, if I ended up losing the truth and my chance to be saved, what meaning would any amount of money have? In the last days, God has incarnated to issue truths and to do the work of judgment. God hopes that more people will come forth and spread His gospel so that those who yearn for His appearance will hear His voice and return before Him as the Creator. Even more so, God hopes that we will be cleansed and changed through His work and that in the end, we will be saved by Him. But I didn’t understand God’s urgent will and clung to my money. I was so foolish and blind! What I should do was give up everything to expend myself for God and pursue the truth. This is what really matters. I ignored my father-in-law’s vehement opposition and transferred my company to my brother.

Since then, I didn’t worry about the management of the company at all. The burden and pressure of all those years suddenly lifted, my life gained some regularity, and slowly, but miraculously, I was healed of the various diseases I had been plagued by. This was truly God’s grace. I joined the ranks of the gospel workers and I worked harmoniously with others in spreading and testifying to God’s kingdom gospel. I felt so fulfilled living like this. In later experiences, through the judgment and exposure of God’s words, I saw clearly the root of my inability to let go of wealth in my faith. Almighty God says, “‘Money makes the world go round’ is a philosophy of Satan. It prevails among the whole of mankind, in every human society; you could say it is a trend. This is because it has been instilled in the heart of every single person, who at first did not accept this saying, but then gave it tacit acceptance when they came into contact with real life, and began to feel that these words were in fact true. Is this not a process of Satan corrupting man? … Satan uses money to tempt people, and corrupts them into worshiping money and venerating material things. And how is this worship of money manifested in people? Do you feel that you could not survive in this world without any money, that even one day without money would be impossible? People’s status is based on how much money they have, as is the respect they command. The backs of the poor are bent in shame, while the rich enjoy their high status. They stand tall and proud, speaking loudly and living arrogantly. What does this saying and trend bring to people? Is it not true that many people make any sacrifice in the pursuit of money? Do many people not lose their dignity and integrity in the pursuit of more money? Do many people not lose the opportunity to perform their duty and follow God for the sake of money? Is losing the chance to gain the truth and be saved not the greatest of all losses for people? Is Satan not sinister to use this method and this saying to corrupt man to such a degree? Is this not a malicious trick? … So can you feel it when you are tricked and corrupted by Satan? You cannot. If you cannot see Satan standing right in front of you, or feel that it is Satan acting in the shadows, would you be able to see the wickedness of Satan? Could you know how Satan corrupts mankind? Satan corrupts man at all times and in all places. Satan makes it impossible for man to defend against this corruption and makes man helpless against it. Satan makes you accept its thoughts, its viewpoints and the evil things that come from it in situations where you are unknowing and when you have no recognition of what is happening to you. People accept these things and take no exception to them. They cherish and hold on to these things like a treasure, they let these things manipulate them and toy with them; this is how people live under the power of Satan, and unconsciously obey Satan, and Satan’s corruption of man grows ever deeper” (The Word, Vol. 2. On Knowing God. God Himself, the Unique V). God’s word revealed society as it is today, and my own true state. From childhood, satanic poisons like “Money makes the world go round,” “A person with money stands taller than a person without,” “Money isn’t everything, but without it, you can do nothing” had subtly influenced me and made me value money more than anything else. They made me think having money was everything, that if you had money you could live in material ease and hold your head high, that everywhere you went you’d be supported, respected, and praised, and that this was a dignified, worthwhile way to live. I thought that without money, people would disrespect and pick on you, so I pursued money as the only goal. At first, I had racked my brains for ways to make money and win clients, using flattery and honeyed untruths, running around like a headless chicken. It had left me tired, exhausted, and even sick. I couldn’t rest for even a day, and as a result, my body had fallen apart. I’d had all kinds of problems with my stomach and throughout my lower and upper back that had made my life so painful I couldn’t eat or sleep properly. But even in this condition, I’d worked hard to make money. I’d lived by Satan’s codes of survival and become utterly selfish and greedy. I’d become a slave to money. Satan had used money and renown to thoroughly corrupt me. My being able to give up my company and money to do a duty was all a result of the enlightenment and guidance of God’s word. I am truly grateful to God for saving me. I must cherish this rare opportunity and do my duty to repay God’s love.

After this, I read a couple of passages of God’s word that really motivated me. God says, “As someone who is normal, and who pursues the love of God, entry into the kingdom to become one of the people of God is your true future, and a life that is of the utmost value and significance; no one is more blessed than you. Why do I say this? Because those who do not believe in God live for the flesh, and they live for Satan, but today you live for God, and live to do the will of God. That is why I say your lives are of the utmost significance” (The Word, Vol. 1. The Appearance and Work of God. Know God’s Newest Work and Follow His Footsteps). “Right now, each day you live through is crucial, and it is of the utmost importance to your destination and your fate, so you must cherish everything you have today, and treasure each minute that passes. You must carve out as much time as you can to give yourselves the greatest gains so that you will not have lived this life in vain” (The Word, Vol. 1. The Appearance and Work of God. To Whom Are You Loyal?). God’s word made it even clearer to me that my choosing to give up the business, follow God, and do a duty is the right path in life, and that this is the most worthwhile and meaningful way to live. Today, it’s finally clear to me that faith and duty are natural and right, and that they are the missions of a person’s life. The most worthwhile and meaningful way to live is to obey God’s will, and He will bless and commemorate these more than anything. There is not much time to pursue the truth in my duty now. I must cherish every day, read God’s word more, preach the gospel, and work hard to repay God’s love and comfort His heart in the time I have left.