Behold All Things Have Become New!

By Dr Kuan Kim Hock

I was the eldest child in a family of four. My father was the sole breadwinner. The income of a government clerk was hardly enough to meet the needs of the family and matters were made worse by my mother who thought that she could contribute in some measure to the family's financial needs if she was able to make some extra money at the gambling tables! Needless to say this was hardly the case, and I can still remember the times when tempers flared because of the lack of finances in the home. So even as a child, I vowed that when I grew up I was going to make lots of money because I thought the lack of it had been the cause of unhappiness in the family.

I went to university and graduated as a medical doctor in 1970, completed the necessary time for housemanship and then served as a medical officer in the government service. With no doubt in my mind, I decided to go into private medical practice and make money (as at that time private practice was a lucrative business). 

Initially, I joined a private practice in Malacca later I decided to venture out on my own. I wanted to make it big and ventured to open the first 24 hour clinic in Malacca. This paid off and very soon I was able to buy myself prestigious cars, join the elite clubs in Malacca and move with the top brass of Malacca society in golfing as well as drinking and gambling circles. 

I enjoyed the respect and admiration of many and being a person who was generous and easy to get on with, very soon had more than my fair share of lady friends. Needless to say, my wife Evelyn who had for ten years before our marriage been my childhood sweetheart, took objection to the more than casual interest that I paid to some of these ladies. The more she quarreled with me the more I found comfort in their company.

This went on for years. I made promises to change but never did, and at one stage Evelyn seriously considered divorcing me. Being the macho man that I was, I told her that she could leave any time she wanted to but she could not take Kelvin (then 2 ½ years old) with her. Thank God the divorce did not materialise as God used a mother's love for her child to keep the semblance of the marriage going. 

Then in 1980, after having gone through two miscarriages in two consecutive years, Evelyn, who had been a 4th generation Christian in her family who was by then totally back-slidden in her faith, came into a renewed walk with the Lord Jesus Christ. It changed her life but that didn't seem to do much for mine. 

Inspite of all the money that I had and the prestige that goes with position and wealth, life seemed empty and meaningless. 

I was experiencing first-hand what King Solomon said in the Book of Ecclesiastes "…. everything is meaningless, a chasing after the wind." I was very sure that money would solve all my problems and give me happiness but when I had the money, happiness seemed to shun me. Was there anything else in the prescription for happiness which was not known to me that I so badly wanted ?

It was with this frame of mind that one Sunday in November 1981, I gave in to Evelyn's persuasions and went with her to Kuala Lumpur to worship in a church that used a hotel for its Sunday service. I am not really sure why I agreed and to travel a hundred miles to worship when I would normally object to a ten minute ride to the church that Evelyn fellowshipped in Malacca as being too burdensome for me! 

But I thank God that in His mercy He reached out and touched me that Sunday morning. I do not remember what the preacher said or what was being sung but what struck me most was the fact that the congregation there, old or young, rich or poor, all seemed to have that JOY and HAPPINESS that I was seeking for all these years. I told God that whatever they had, I wanted it too …. “Blessed are the poor in spirit for they shall see God!” This promise became mine about a week later, when I responded to the altar call and accepted the Lord Jesus Christ as my Lord and Saviour at one of the FGBMF meetings in Malacca.

Knowing that God forgave me for all the awful sins that I had committed brought unspeakable joy. The burden and guilt of sin was lifted from me. In the days and months thereafter, God gave me a hunger for His Word and my joy grew as I realised that I am loved by God and that He has a good plan for my life. The assurance in knowing that I will spend eternity with God in heaven when I leave this earthly life is far better than any material thing that money can buy.

As I allowed God's Word to change me, I began to thank God and appreciate Evelyn for having stood by me and being such a good and blessed wife to me all these years. I must say Kevin, our son, who has been such a blessing to us is also a wonderful gift from God. I began to look at my profession as a medical doctor not just as a means to earn a living, but as an opportunity for me to be a channel of blessing for God's love as I care and comfort the sick. 

The process of transformation of the old self with the sinful nature has been a slow and painful process. I am far from being the man that God has purposed for me to be and yet I say this with all humility: The friends who knew me before I came into a personal relationship with Jesus Christ find it hard to believe the changed person that I am today in Christ. 

Those who knew me only after my conversion find it hard to believe the terrible person I was before knowing Christ. Truly, “if anyone is in Christ he is a new creation, old things are passed away; behold all things have become new.” I thank God for the restoration of our marriage and for the privilege of seeing our son grow in the Lord Jesus Christ.