The rainbow

https://odb.org/2025/02/24/rainbows-and-gods-promises

We had to wake up at 5.00 am, and start our journey back to Petaling Jaya from Seremban at slightly half past five yesterday morning. After breakfast, we arrived back at our condo at 7 plus, and because I had to be in office early, I didn’t have time to write yesterday’s devotional. But I like yesterday’s topic on the rainbow very much and will thus write about it today.

Genesis 9:8–17 (NIV): 8 Then God said to Noah and to his sons with him: 9 “I now establish my covenant with you and with your descendants after you 10 and with every living creature that was with you—the birds, the livestock and all the wild animals, all those that came out of the ark with you—every living creature on earth. 11 I establish my covenant with you: Never again will all life be destroyed by the waters of a flood; never again will there be a flood to destroy the earth.” 12 And God said, “This is the sign of the covenant I am making between me and you and every living creature with you, a covenant for all generations to come: 13 I have set my rainbow in the clouds, and it will be the sign of the covenant between me and the earth. 14 Whenever I bring clouds over the earth and the rainbow appears in the clouds, 15 I will remember my covenant between me and you and all living creatures of every kind. Never again will the waters become a flood to destroy all life. 16 Whenever the rainbow appears in the clouds, I will see it and remember the everlasting covenant between God and all living creatures of every kind on the earth.”
17 So God said to Noah, “This is the sign of the covenant I have established between me and all life on the earth.”

As we can read from Genesis 9, the rainbow was put in place by God after the great flood that killed every living creature (except marine life and those animals in Noah’s ark and Noah and his family). The rainbow is the reminder to God of His covenant that He will never again destroy living creatures by flood waters. Thus, after Adam and his descendants and the living creatures created by God since creation, the human race and air breathing living creatures restarted from Noah onwards. As much as all of us are descended from Adam and Eve since Noah also descended from them, our lineage could be more directly traced to Noah and his family as the last surviving humans after the great flood.

The rainbow 🌈 besides being God’s covenant not to destroy living creatures again by water, is also a depiction of the colours in life. We see colours because light reflects colours to us, but all colours we see are a combination of the colours of the rainbow. Colours represent the joy and vibrancy of life, for if we are only black and white or shades of grey, life will be much more boring! Even if we were to look at the forest with its different tones of green, it is the colour of the flowers and fruits that bring life and beauty to the forest.

But most importantly, although we only see the rainbow as an arch due to the horizon and we being on the ground, in reality, a rainbow is actually a full circle. To capture the rainbow as a circle, we need to be up in the air, as can be seen in the photo above. You may read the scientific explanation of this below:

https://bigthink.com/starts-with-a-bang/rainbow-full-circle/

The full circle of the rainbow represents God’s love, which is forever and eternal. It is never ending. Like Lamentations 3:22-23 proclaims, the steadfast love of the Lord never ceases as it is renewed every morning great is thy faithfulness. The day will come when Jesus returns, and He will rule the earth, and at the end of time, we will dwell with God in Eden recreated in the new heaven and new earth and the new Jerusalem. It will be for eternity like the full circle of the rainbow 🌈. It will be full of the vibrancy and joy of life like the colours of the rainbow!

Whenever we are down and sad, I pray that the Lord will show us His rainbow, and may we remember His everlasting love for us, His covenant with humanity and the living creatures on earth! May the beauty and the colours of the rainbow bring joy to us in our days of sorrow and tears.

Have a good week ahead, everyone!

The righteous fall but rise again

https://odb.org/2025/02/21/getting-back-up

Proverbs 24:15-16 NIV– 15 Do not lurk like a thief near the house of the righteous, do not plunder their dwelling place; 16 for though the righteous fall seven times, they rise again, but the wicked stumble when calamity strikes.

One of the wise sayings in Proverbs exalts the righteous for being able to rise again even if a thief were to plunder their home. In contrast, the wicked will stumble when calamity strikes. As mentioned before in these pages, the Old Testament Jews were much more focused on living this present life with afterlife a more obscure concept to them. Thus, being blessed by God is a sign of righteousness as they believe that God protects and blesses the righteous. Consequently, as stated by Proverbs 24:16, even if the righteous were to fall seven times, they will rise again. This is because God is with the righteous. He is the defender, the stronghold and salvation of the righteous. He will ensure that they are not defeated.

In this post-Jesus era of the New Covenant, this is still an important principle to grasp and apply in our lives as believers. If we were to fall, believe that we would rise again. If some calamity were to befall us, have faith that we will rise again victoriously. Why? Because the Lord loves and cares for us. Because God is with us! Because of the blood of Jesus shed on the cross of Calvary, we now have the added knowledge that we have eternal life. Thus, even if we were to face hardship coping with life, we look forward to our inheritance in the saints and the riches in heaven we have stored throughout our walk in the faith. We also look forward to the room that Jesus has gone ahead to prepare for us in our Heavenly Father’s mansion of many rooms. We look forward to the new heaven and new earth at the end of time when God will dwell amongst His people.

For though the righteous fall seven times, they rise again! Rise again, pick ourselves up when we fall like an ice skater or roller skater would! Never give up, but strive forward always! Keep up the good fight, my dear brothers and sisters! Keep on walking on the road of righteousness that leads to eternal life! Amen!

The simple truth

https://odb.org/2025/02/20/the-simple-truth

Romans 10:9–11 (NIV): 9 If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. 10 For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you profess your faith and are saved. 11 As Scripture says, “Anyone who believes in him will never be put to shame.”

The context of Romans 10:9-11 is the contention then by the Jews that Gentiles need to convert to Judaism to become God’s people. Remember that Romans was a letter written by Paul to the believers in Rome, both Jews and Gentiles. To convert to Judaism means to follow the Mosaic law and the expanded rules developed by the Jewish religious authorities. Paul, however, asserted that believers just needed to declare that Jesus is the Lord and believe in their heart that God raised Him from the dead. Romans 9:10 – For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you profess your faith and are saved.

When I was younger and was seeking to become a genuine born-again Christian, I was also surprised by the simplicity of the mechanism to become a believer. We just needed to utter the sinner’s prayer. Of course, I was given something like a 10-week Navigators course on what it means to believe in Christ, to teach me on the fundamentals of the faith. But the final act was simple. We confess with our mouths and believe in our hearts that Jesus Christ is Lord and that He died for our sins as were sinners and in God resurrecting Him, He overcame both sin and death that we may have eternal life. Salvation is by faith in Christ and not by our good works.

Yet as we enter into God’s family of the church and learn more about the faith, we know that living the believers’ lives as disciples of Christ is not just the sinner’s prayer. It is much, much more than that. There is the transformation of our lives in the way we think, speak, and relate to others. There is the development of our character in Christ. We need to build up our relationship with Father God. We need to have a prayer life and a quiet time with the Lord. We also need to study His Word and serve Him to fulfil His plans and purposes for our lives and to live in the centre of His will. In the process, we will gain in our knowledge of God by relating to Him, serving Him, and loving Him.

The law of God as enumerated in the Old Testament is still relevant to guide us in our lives as believers since God is the same today as He was in the past. But we are longer under that law as the law is now written in our hearts. Thus, Christian life is all-encompassing. There is a morality aspect as well as character as a person. We live in the natural, yet we are essentially spiritual beings in communication with the Almighty God, an all-powerful and all-knowing spiritual being. We are in the world and not of this world. As much as we originated from the faith of the Jews, we are not part of that faith. As believers of Christ, we are not inferior to the Jews but have equal rights to our inheritance in Christ.

I pray for every one of us, including my own self, that we will continue to persevere on in this journey of faith. To strive forward heavenward towards the goal that Christ has set before us, forgetting what’s behind and despite what’s in the present. That we will look to the future for the glory that awaits us in Christ Jesus, the rich inheritance of the saints! Amen!

The story of Leah

https://odb.org/2025/02/19/finding-love

Genesis 29:28–35 (NIV): 28 And Jacob did so. He finished the week with Leah, and then Laban gave him his daughter Rachel to be his wife. 29 Laban gave his servant Bilhah to his daughter Rachel as her attendant. 30 Jacob made love to Rachel also, and his love for Rachel was greater than his love for Leah. And he worked for Laban another seven years. 31 When the LORD saw that Leah was not loved, he enabled her to conceive, but Rachel remained childless. 32 Leah became pregnant and gave birth to a son. She named him Reuben, for she said, “It is because the LORD has seen my misery. Surely my husband will love me now.”
33 She conceived again, and when she gave birth to a son, she said, “Because the LORD heard that I am not loved, he gave me this one too.” So she named him Simeon. 34 Again she conceived, and when she gave birth to a son she said, “Now at last my husband will become attached to me, because I have borne him three sons.” So he was named Levi. 35 She conceived again, and when she gave birth to a son, she said, “This time, I will praise the LORD.” So she named him Judah. Then she stopped having children.

We don’t really focus much on Leah, Jacob’s first wife. Partly because we may feel she was part of Laban’s deceit of Jacob, although in a way, we may also feel Jacob deserved the retribution after he himself having deceived Esau his birthright and their father’s blessings.

The story as we know in Genesis 29 is that after working 7 years for Laban, his uncle, to marry Rachel, Laban instead gave Jacob Leah as his wife on the wedding night, saying that the elder sister must be married first. Thus, he needed to work for Laban for another 7 years for Rachel. So he ended up with two wives that week and another 7 years to work for Laban. If you read on in Genesis, however, you will know that God blessed Jacob tremendously and made him a very rich man in the process.

The LORD also transformed Jacob from a cunning and conniving person to become Israel after he had that encounter where he wrestled with God (that’s the meaning of Israel). Thus, it is from Jacob that the twelve tribes of Israel came from – the 12 sons of both his wives, Leah and Rachel, and their maidservants. See chart below:

But Jacob loved Rachel and not Leah. God saw Leah’s plight in seeking after Jacob’s love and blessed her with children first. You can see this clearly in Genesis 29:31 – When the LORD saw that Leah was not loved, he enabled her to conceive, but Rachel remained childless. In verse 33 – She conceived again, and when she gave birth to a son, she said, “Because the LORD heard that I am not loved, he gave me this one too.” It was only in the later years that Rachel gave birth to Joseph and Benjamin, who then became Jacob’s favourite sons.

It was this internal family rivalry that probably led to the sons of Leah later devising the plan to sell Joseph off to slave traders to Egypt. We know how God turned Joseph’s bad situation into one that saved and preserved Jacob’s clan (from the severe famine then) for 430 years in Egypt before God raised Moses to confront Pharoah and deliver the whole clan (now a nation) out of Egypt back into Canaan. Incidentally, it was from Judah’s line, Leah’s 4th son, that King David came from and thus our Lord Jesus Christ.

Like in the case of Haggar and Sarah of Abraham, the LORD did not overlook the one who was not loved. Instead, the LORD made sure the unloved is blessed. You can see this in Genesis 21:18, where the LORD promised to make Hagar’s son, Ishmael, into a great nation, and it is believed that the Arabs of today descended from Ishmael. He saw Leah’s situation and took care of her by blessing her with 4 sons in the early years when Rachel’s womb was closed.

The LORD would have remembered and cared for us even if we were not part of His Kingdom. What more when we are in His Kingdom and part of His heavenly family. Surely He will bless and protect us. He looked out and cared for Leah, the unloved wife of Jacob. He cared for Hagar, the maidservant of Sarah who bore Abraham, his first son before Isaac. Surely He will look out and care for us, the children redeemed and saved by the precious blood of His one and only Son, Jesus Christ, our Lord and Saviour! Be strong and of good courage, for the LORD your God will be with you wherever you go!

Fake ratings

https://odb.org/2025/02/18/no-fake-ratings

Ephesians 4:22–32 (NIV): 22 You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; 23 to be made new in the attitude of your minds; 24 and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness. 25 Therefore, each of you must put off falsehood and speak truthfully to your neighbour, for we are all members of one body. 

This thing about false ratings is that it is very much a challenge of our contemporary living. I don’t think we had this issue more than 10 years ago. It’s a recent phenomenon due to the birth and growth of e-hailing like Uber (entered Malaysia in 2014) and Grab with the latter taking over the former for the Southeast Asian markets in 2018.

The Chinese have this belief that we should always give others a new road to walk on. Meaning to say, rather than destroy someone’s livelihood, we let them continue to make a living. In other words, the same way we treasure and protect over our own rice bowls, we don’t go around disturbing or destroying other people’s rice bowls. That probably explains why some people will still give a 5-star rating even for a terrible ride experience. We possibly sympathise with the driver’s predicament needing to drive Grab for a living, knowing very well that Grab actually provides people who are unemployed or laid off a lifeline to continue earning without resorting to crime.

Yet, as Christians, we are called to speak the truth and not perpetuate lies. We could argue that Ephesians 4:25 was written in the context of speaking falsehood to cause harm or, as per the Old Testament law of do not give false testimony against your neighbour. Perhaps it could be rationalised that way, but the Word of God nevertheless stated that we are to put off falsehood and lying, and not speaking the truth is falsehood.

I believe the practice of putting off falsehood is a good one as one lie may lead to another, and after some time, it becomes a habit to lie and may permeate our lives. We will eventually forget our own lies, and thus, in our inconsistency, we will come across as speaking with forked tongues. Surely, as children of God and a disciple of our Lord Jesus Christ, we need to preserve and protect His name in our lives!

I think the solution to this predicament is to give a 5-star for a genuinely good experience and a 1-star, for a really bad experience or just don’t rate at all. Compliment when praise is due, but there is perhaps no need to praise (give a 5-star rating) when it is bad. Why lie and compromise our own standards to give an undeserved compliment? As believers, we try to be truthful as much as possible, but if the truth destroys, we should refrain unless speaking the truth is necessary to rebuild someone and make him or her a better person.

Restraint in speech and action

https://odb.org/2025/02/17/never-sent

Proverbs 29:20 (NIV): 20 Do you see someone who speaks in haste?
There is more hope for a fool than for them.

One of the things we learned at work is never to write or reply to an email when angry. Calm yourself down first. Take a walk. Go get a cup of coffee. Or even better, if the matter is not urgent, do it tomorrow. In today’s world, that includes writing or replying on WhatsApp.

The reason is simple, we are foolish when angry, and when foolish, we may write things that we will very much regret later. Like in the case of President Abraham Lincoln. His top general, George Meade, defied him when he did not attack the troops at the south as his men were as tired as those in the south. President Lincoln wrote a letter to his general that he was immeasurably distressed, but he sealed and didn’t send it. In the end, not sending that letter prevented President Lincoln from demoralizing his top general, helping him win a necessary war, and contributing to the healing of a nation.

The Bible is strewn with examples of how anger clouded judgement and led to lasting negative ramifications. Most infamous being Cain and Abel. If Cain had reined in his anger, he would not have killed Abel. If Moses had not allowed his rage to take control, he would not have killed the Egyptian, which led him fleeing to a far country in Midian to work as a shepherd for 40 years before God called him at the burning bush. Or if Moses had not allowed the grumbling of the Israelites to affect him, he might not have disobeyed the LORD and might have spoken to the rock instead of striking it with his staff. Moses was not allowed to enter the Promised Land because of his disobedience. The psalmist said in Psalm 106:33 that they made Moses angry, and he spoke foolishly.

This is especially important for couples. While we are no aliens to querrels and verbal fights, it is much wiser to keep our mouths shut when provoked or angered. There is no need to try to win every argument. At work, what is the point of winning an argument with the boss if it ultimately results in us losing his favour or even our job?

The lesson this morning is to learn to restrain ourselves, especially when angry or when we want to be provocative or are attempting to win an argument. Godly wisdom advocates that we keep quiet or just let the situation slide. Peace and preservation of relationships and harmony are often more critical. Praying for a person in private may well be more effective than standing our ground in an ascending crescendo in a heated argument.

Have a good week ahead, everyone! I pray that we will all be blessed with divine wisdom and will exercise restraint in all that we encounter at work, in church, or at home!

1 Corinthians 13 – Love

https://odb.org/2025/02/14/wedded-to-love

1 Corinthians 13:4-8 NIV – Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. 5 It does not dishonour others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. 6 Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. 7 It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. 8 Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away.

Happy and blessed Valentine’s Day to all who are celebrating the day of love as commemorated by our popular culture. The business world, of course, took advantage of the day to monetise it. Useful for young courting couples to prove their love for each other by spending lavishly on each other (more the boy for the girl, though!), hopefully culminating in marriage, which in most jurisdictions is still the legal mode for couples to enjoin their lives, to cohabit, have children and start a family. When I got married, I felt more confident facing the challenges of life with someone I love by my side as the world out there was somewhat scary and unknown when we were just starting out from university.

In the Christian context, 1 Corinthians 13:4-8 is used very much in weddings, whether forming part of the marriage vows or in the sermon. Those verses there were taught by Paul on what constitutes love and is an excellent foundation for a Christian marriage. The reason is simple. Christian marriage is for life. When we marry, we vow in front of God and men to remain with each other till the day we die or until the Lord returns. It is the basis for us to have children and start a new family unit of our own to contribute to society and to serve God. We are to grow old together, to see our children grow up and one day have children of their own. That is why the Christian marriage vows speak of things like through rich or poor, through sickness and good health. As a couple and family, we go through the peaks and valleys of life together. Two are surely stronger than one, and with the Lord as the head, surely there is nothing we can not overcome!

Thus, love is patient and kind as we should be with another. It does not envy or boast, but we are proud of one another’s achievements. We are not self seeking since we always think of the interests of us as a couple and family. We don’t get easily angered so that our days are not filled with arguments and quarrels. Most importantly, we do not keep records of wrongs as much as the female mind has a very good memory! Love always protects, always trusts, always hopes and always perseveres. We try something new, we fail, and we pick ourselves up and try again. We are always there to encourage, cheer, and push each other on. We have full trust in each other. Lastly, but not the least, love never fails. In the end, love will prevail, conquer, and win!

Have a good Valentine’s Day celebration to all who are celebrating!

The benediction prayer

https://odb.org/2025/02/13/never-overlooked

Numbers 6:24-26 NIV – 24 The Lord bless you and keep you; 25 the Lord make his face shine on you and be gracious to you;
26 the Lord turn his face toward you
and give you peace.

The benediction prayer is the common way for the pastor of the church to end the Sunday service. It is a blessing prayer, praying for God’s blessings to be upon the people as they depart for their homes after the service. It speaks of God’s blessings to be upon the people for the coming week as they go through life, and when they congregate again for service next Sunday, the cycle repeats. In a way, it encourages the congregation to meet again in person at the next service, to worship the LORD together, to fellowship, and then to receive the blessing again from God as the pastor prays.

The benediction prayer using the words in Numbers 6:24-26 is called the Aaronic benediction. My pastor at our local church usually uses this prayer. There is also the Pauline benediction, which uses the words in 2 Corinthians 13:14 – May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.

The benediction prayer highlights that our God is always looking out for us. We may feel invisible that no one cares about us. We may feel we are all alone. No one notices or bothers about us. But God does. He cares and loves us. Not only will He bless and keep us, but He will make His face shine upon us and be gracious towards us. In fact, He will turn His face towards us and give us peace. All the things we really want in life, the benediction prayer covers it all. This is because, in the end, what matters most is the blessings from our God, His grace, and His glory shining forth in our lives. In the process, we have peace from God. What more can we ask for in our lives? So long as He cares for us and takes care of us, we will be able to go through life victoriously in Christ Jesus! Our future is in His hands. Our destination is in eternal life, the new heaven and the new earth of Revelation 21.

This morning, it is my prayer for you and myself that the LORD our God, our Heavenly Father, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, will bless and keep you. That He will make His face shine on you and be gracious to you, that the LORD shall turn His face toward you and give you peace! May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you! Amen!

For my thoughts are not your thoughts

https://odb.org/2025/02/12/a-change-of-plans

Isaiah 55:8–11 (NIV): 8 “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,” declares the LORD.
9 “As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.
10 As the rain and the snow come down from heaven, and do not return to it
without watering the earth and making it bud and flourish, so that it yields seed for the sower and bread for the eater, 11 so is my word that goes out from my mouth: It will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it.

Sometimes, in the course of ministry, we do something as a response to the prompting of the Holy Spirit. So, like today’s ODB life story, all preparations were already made, and funds were already collected for a mission trip to Africa. But at the last minute, the trip did not materialise. So all the monies they collected for air fares, accommodation, and other expenses, they donated to the people they were going to visit. In turn, those people constructed a building as a shelter for abuse victims. That building became a blessing and tower of strength for abused people. Perhaps the building was God’s plan after all. More so than the mission trip. Something real and tangible emerged from the funds. Or God could turn a disappointment (for those going on the mission trip) to joy (for those abused people). I’m sure the people who missed out on the mission trip would most welcome the news of the impact their funds in establishing that building.

God works in sometimes mysterious ways as His thoughts and ways are higher than ours. His word that goes out from His mouth will not return to Him empty (or void as in the KJV/NKJV). Some little things that we do will have an impact somewhere as God wills it. Like our RM50 offering. It may be small, but God is able to turn it into something impactful. Or our prayers for the nations, for the closed countries. God will work a miracle in their midst. Respond to His prompting and act. Even if our actions do not materialise, our response will have an impact on the spiritual and natural realms. Our response to the Word of God will not be in vain or meaningless. Something tangible will come out of it. Maybe we felt God was calling us to go full-time in the church. Instead, the door was opened for social work elsewhere in an NGO. God’s plans would still be achieved through our work in the NGO.

This morning, even if we feel that the Lord has plans for us elsewhere, know that God is able to make His plans a reality wherever we are now. Perhaps we may go elsewhere later. But for now, while we are where we are, let the glory of God flow through us. Our Lord Jesus Christ is constantly working in our lives, in our midst, even as we are transitioning into another phase. As we move on to another stage in our lives, He will still work in our midst, amongst us. For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways! Isaiah 55:8.

The LORD will look for the lost

https://odb.org/2025/02/11/god-runs-after-us

Ezekiel 34:11-13,15–16 (NIV): 11 “ ‘For this is what the Sovereign LORD says: I myself will search for my sheep and look after them. 12 As a shepherd looks after his scattered flock when he is with them, so will I look after my sheep. I will rescue them from all the places where they were scattered on a day of clouds and darkness. 13 I will bring them out from the nations and gather them from the countries, and I will bring them into their own land. I will pasture them on the mountains of Israel, in the ravines, and in all the settlements in the land. 15 I myself will tend my sheep and have them lie down, declares the Sovereign LORD. 16 I will search for the lost and bring back the strays. I will bind up the injured and strengthen the weak, but the sleek and the strong I will destroy. I will shepherd the flock with justice.

I am a little late today. Since it is a public holiday, we took the opportunity to go for an early morning brisk walk by the lake near our city condo and also had an early breakfast outside.

Looking at today’s topic, I think it’s a little of a paradox that while life is somewhat a test, God will not spare any effort to bring us back to Him. It is a test as at the end of time, we are to give an account to Christ at the Bema judgment seat of Christ. That’s likely one of the reasons why Jesus taught us on the parable of the talents. Did we bury our talent, or did we put it to good use and grow it 5 or 10 fold? Yet if we were to fall away, God would run after us like the song says – “Your goodness is running after, is running after me!” Or another song that says – “You are forever in my life. You see me through the seasons. ” On the one hand, the Lord is testing us. On the other hand, He is giving us a helping hand and is forever in our lives, in all seasons.

Like during the time of Ezekial in today’s Scripture. The LORD allowed the Babylonians to overrun Judah, destroy the Tenple, burn down Jerusalem, and take the Israelites into exile. It was because of their insolence and disobedience. Yet He promised that He would gather them back into their country and seek the lost and bring back the strays. He did it centuries ago when the Babylonians allowed the exiles to return to Jerusalem after seventy years and in recent times when the state of Israel was established in 1948.

Ezekial 34 is a picture of the heart of God when we who had found the light got lost and became strays again. It is a picture of the wanderers amongst us believers who were distracted by the attractions of the world. It reflects those of us who lost sight of our calling in Him, who allowed our circumstances in the natural to deviate God’s plans and purposes for us. Jesus Christ, our Lord, will gather and bring us back to the right path. Back to our own country, the place where He will pasture us and where the Lord Himself will tend to us. We will be strengthened again to live in the centre of His will, to serve Him and fulfil His plans and purposes for our lives! Get back to Him, and don’t remain where we are. Get back on the narrow path of righteousness. We will enjoy His sweetness, His peace and joy in the land overflowing with milk and honey! The LORD will look for the lost!