Influenced by my family background, I took religion seriously even as a child. Almost everyone in my home town worshipped idols and ancestors. As a young boy, I followed my parents’ instructions to burn incense to ancestors twice a day. Typically, the duty of burning incense to idols was performed by the oldest son; so I did not know why, being the third among six siblings, I ended up doing it most of the time. I learned from adults to pray to ancestors for help whenever there was trouble. One time, my father was gravely ill, and I was worried and at a loss as to what to do; so I prayed to the idols and asked them to heal my father. Now, of course, I know that ancestors and idols are not able to help me in any way. At that time, however, I was ignorant of the true God and therefore prayed to the wrong object. I remember that my relatives sometimes praised me for obeying my parents in carrying out the religious duty, describing me as being “faithful and spiritual”. I also remember that I actually felt pretty good about being praised in such a fashion. The fact is, I had absolutely no idea what true spirituality was. The truth became clear to me only after I had accepted Jesus Christ as my personal Savior; and I came to realize that, back then, I was neither faithful nor spiritual, rather, I was ignorant and superstitious. If we do not believe that Jesus is the only true God and Savior, our faith is in vain. If we do not receive the Holy Spirit into our heart, we cannot become spiritual. The Bible says, “The man without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually discerned.” (1 Cor. 2:14)

由於家庭背景的影響, 我從小對宗教就很認真. 在我的家鄉, 幾乎家家戶戶都是拜偶像和祖先的. 我從小就聽從父母的吩咐去燒香, 每天兩次.  一般的規矩是大兒子負責燒香的, 而我在六兄弟姊妹中排行第三, 真是不知道為何這個責任時常會落在我的身上. 我從長輩身上學到一件事, 就是, 有困難的時候就要求祖先幫助. 有一次, 我父親病重,我很擔心, 也不知道如何是好; 於是我就向偶像祈禱, 求它們醫治我爸爸. 如今, 我當然清楚地知道, 祖先和偶像是絕對幫不了我的.  然而, 因為我當時對真神一無所知, 我祈禱的對象就錯了. 我記得親朋好友有時候會稱讚我, 說我孝順父母去燒香, 形容我是“忠心和屬靈”. 我還記得聽見他們如此說的時候, 我自己也感到飄飄然. 其實, 我當時根本不明白什麼是真正的屬靈. 我開始清楚地明白真理, 是在我接受了耶穌基督做我個人的救主以後. 從前的我, 既不是忠心, 又不是屬靈, 而是一個徹頭徹尾愚昧和迷信的人.  倘若我們不信耶穌是獨一的真神和救主, 我們的信心是徒然的. 倘若我們還沒有接受聖靈進入我們的心中, 我們也就不是屬靈的. 聖經說, “然而, 屬血氣的人不領會神聖靈的事, 反倒以為愚拙, 並且不能知道, 因為這些事惟有屬靈的人才能看透.” (林前2:14)