Students’ Testimonies – 2007

My motivation for taking up Bible Knowledge as a subject was to gain a deeper understanding of God’s Word & subsequently, my faith. Being from a non-church-going background & having only accepted Christ in Form 3, I was painfully aware of the limitations of my knowledge. For one year, I went about professing my faith with full conviction & enthusiasm; yet, when I was asked questions about the foundations of the Christian faith, I fell short. The answers I came up with were not grounded in the Word. I professed in “Spirit”, but due to my lack of Scripture knowledge, I could not profess in “truth”.

With this in mind, I decided to undertake the challenge of studying Bible Knowledge. Some people said it would be easy to score an A, some people said it would be hard, but all those were inconsequential. I was there to study God’s Word. If I could put in so many hours studying the 10 compulsory subjects, surely, I could afford time for one more, the only subject that would really matter? Surely God deserved that much, in the least?

In my case, I went on to sit for 14 subjects in my SPM. God led me into taking all those subjects; it was never a case of “maybe I shall add one more, maybe I should drop that other one”. I believe that was God’s plan for me: to study a wide range of subjects which I later found to be useful to me in the future. & yes, that includes History & Moral!

But really, there is nothing like studying the living Word of God. At the beginning, I treated it like just another subject. As time passed, however, coupled with the fact that I studied Literature in English, I began to read between the lines & ponder the reality as proclaimed in the Bible. I started to understand the enormity of those powerful Words in the Bible that are the Truth, breathed upon & inspired by our very own living God. As a result, the Word became very real to me, & many times I felt that God was speaking to me through Scripture.

Studying BK was never a burden. Even with 14 subjects, there was never once that I felt I had too much to handle, & I attribute that entirely to the closer relationship I have with God as a result of taking BK. During the month- long SPM examination period, studying BK actually helped me to stay focused & not worry about SPM. Truly, I had never felt as relaxed at any other examination! What I did was to read a few chapters from Luke or Acts each day, as part of my daily devotion. I didn’t treat it as revision, but how you would usually treat devotion – I asked God what He was trying to tell me through that particular passage. If anything, it helped reinforce my memory as I could now relate better to those passages.

So it was that throughout the first few weeks of SPM, amidst studying for History, Literature in English, Additional Mathematics, Biology, Economics and the like, I was constantly reminded that all these was futile without God. That the reason why I was doing all these, the reason why I led the life I did, was to glorify God.

I cannot emphasize enough on the benefits of taking BK. It’s more than memorizing God’s Word; it’s about committing it to memory & hiding it in your heart, to be drawn upon or turned to whenever you are troubled. It’s like having an on-the-spot reserve of hope that reminds you of God’s promises.

Though it’s only two books, studying Luke & Acts serves as a good foundation & introduction to the Salvation of Jesus Christ. Nowadays, whenever the pastor makes a reference to either books, I don’t have to turn to the book & start reading the whole passage – which can sometimes make you miss the point he’s trying to make as you’re too busy reading – because I understand the context in which he is drawing his point from.

As I write this, I am recalling all the memories associated with BK. It goes without saying that I am extremely grateful to all my BK teachers (I had three different teachers throughout my two years of BK study. Long story, that.) & would like to thank them for all their guidance & support. Special thanks goes to Mrs Kua for pushing Amy Wong, the sole other BK crusader in my school, & me to join the National BK Quiz. The National BK Quiz is a simply amazing experience. Really, studying BK is not complete without experiencing it as a full participant. & then there are the memories I built with Amy, like being the only two people in the school hall during our BK paper.

Most importantly, studying BK has piqued my interest in studying the rest of the books in the Bible! While I’m still nowhere close to being halfway through the Bible, it has made me realize the importance of not just reading, but really studying the Word. Now if only Issachar would publish study guides for the other books as well…

To wrap things up, BK is a very interesting subject. Even if you’re not a Christian, there’s nothing wrong with learning more about other religions. It is always good to expand one’s knowledge in a variety of areas. But my prayer is that though it may seem to be just a story to you, someday, you will realize that it’s much more than that – it’s the truth.

After all the toil and hard work put in, we finally achieved the goal we have been aiming for these past two years. Taking BK as one of our SPM subjects has indeed helped us in ways more than one, and more than we may ever know. God can use our young people of today, those who are sensitive to God’s voice, sensitive to his calling, to be his powerful agents of transformation effecting change in their respective communities. BK is only one of the tools which can be used in aiding this noble objective, as it trains and equips fresh young minds to be of service in places where they have been stationed. This is especially true for the both of us as being away from home, inevitably we have to rely on ourselves after Him.

Firstly, it is also through BK that our knowledge of God’s Word (that in relation to the books of Luke and Acts) has been deepened and we have also been more encouraged to study the Bible on a more frequent and prolonged basis. This in turn strengthens our spiritual walk with Him through consistent two-way communication. And through a relationship based on faith and trust, we learn that our God is a God of the impossible.

Apart from that, we have learnt ways of improving our social relationships with those around us, especially our loved ones. The Word of God offers us sufficient guidance in handling different situations, and teaches us that agape love is the way to resolve conflicts. It is also through God’s Word that we assume the role of encouragers and influence others into doing the same.

Besides that, BK has helped reinforce our sense of self- discipline. We realize the importance of managing our time efficiently as being the stewards of time, we are accountable to God for everything we do. Oftentimes this involves our faith being put to test, however we must keep holding steadfast unto His promises. The Lord is our light and our salvation, whom shall we fear?

Moreover, taking BK has impacted the paths leading to our future. It has reminded us to always seek Him first before we step out. Even as we are presently studying in college, we seek Him for his direction in our lives. (Christine plans to do Law and Remina, Medicine for their respective degrees). As the old saying goes, if we fail to plan, we plan to fail. And this proverb could not have been more accurate in itself. God wants us to consult Him first as he knows what’s best for us just like the scripture in Jeremiah 29 : 11 – “For I have plans to prosper you, and plans not to harm you.” He wants us to remember that even when everything else fades away, He will still be our ever-reliable pillar of strength. And the best thing is He does not only avail Himself to a selected few, but to everyone who chooses him as Lord and Savior.

Actually even as we look back into the past now, we do miss the times when we sat down and studied BK together. To be honest with you readers, BK is really more than a subject, and it is NOT just another subject. Even at this point, many still might not realize the many long-term benefits it brings to its SPM candidates. One of them is it teaches you a whole lot about life, things that you will never be able to find in our school text books. Quoting Psalms 119:105, “For your Word is a lamp to my feet, and a light to my path”.