Fishers of men

Matthew 4:18–22 (NKJV): 18 And Jesus, walking by the Sea of Galilee, saw two brothers, Simon called Peter, and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea; for they were fishermen. 19 Then He said to them, “Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men.” 20 They immediately left their nets and followed Him.
21 Going on from there, He saw two other brothers, James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother, in the boat with Zebedee their father, mending their nets. He called them, 22 and immediately they left the boat and their father, and followed Him.

The first disciples of Christ were called by Jesus from fishermen to become fishers of men. Instead of catching fish for a living, they became instruments of Christ to make disciples of the nations. They were Simon Peter and his brother Andrew, and brothers, John and James. Except for a brief few days where they went back to their secular trade after the death of Jesus on the cross, they took on their spiritual calling with fervour and followed Jesus until the very end. They transited from their secular jobs into full-time ministry seamlessly and did not look back, dying with their boots on the ground.

The point I like to highlight this morning is the immediacy of their response to Jesus’s calling. This was something that intrigued and fascinated me since I was a young Christian. I mean, they dropped everything and immediately followed Jesus. No hesitation. No contemplation. No analysis. Just immediate response. No diversion. There was zero chance for any changing of minds. They made up their minds and took action instantly. They didn’t go home to consult their families. Or, as Jesus said later, let the dead bury their dead (see Luke 9:60).

As drastic as the last advice from Jesus may sound, the point is actually that we are solely and exclusively responsible for our spiritual decisions, and that includes the decision whether to accept the free gift of salvation that comes with a radical transformation of our lives as every believer is expected to carry his own cross. If we want the rewards of the fellowship with Christ, we need to accept the costs that come with me. We become bondservants of God in exchange for the privilege to become pilgrims, merely passing through this world to our eternal home.

As we marvel at the speed and unconditional response of the first disciples, let us not take too long making decisions of faith for Christ. If it is for the furtherance of the Kingdom of God and His righteousness, why wait anymore? Just respond to His calling and take the step of faith! Amen!

Being snubbed or excluded

https://odb.org/2025/02/09/peace-when-snubbed

Ephesians 2:11–18 (NIV): 11 Therefore, remember that formerly you who are Gentiles by birth and called “uncircumcised” by those who call themselves “the circumcision” (which is done in the body by human hands)—12 remember that at that time you were separate from Christ, excluded from citizenship in Israel and foreigners to the covenants of the promise, without hope and without God in the world. 13 But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far away have been brought near by the blood of Christ. 14 For he himself is our peace, who has made the two groups one and has destroyed the barrier, the dividing wall of hostility, 15 by setting aside in his flesh the law with its commands and regulations. His purpose was to create in himself one new humanity out of the two, thus making peace, 16 and in one body to reconcile both of them to God through the cross, by which he put to death their hostility. 17 He came and preached peace to yo,  who were far away and peace to those who were near. 18 For through him we both have access to the Father by one Spirit.

It is common to be snubbed or excluded from social gatherings by people. Like the current Chinese New Year season. In the past, we may not know at all, but nowadays, with social media, we will see photos of gatherings being posted and thus will find out about such events that didn’t include us. The reason is simple, most if not all of these gatherings have limited capacity. Some are intentionally kept small. These exclusions also occur in the church itself as different groups meet without calling others. It is particularly difficult if you are the pastor or leader organising as some of those who are snubbed may be upset or feel isolated.

In the early church, the issue was between the Jewish Christians and the Gentiles. It was not social gatherings but their place in the Kingdom of God. The Jews felt they were the chosen ones and thus looked down on the new Gentile believers while the Gentiles hated the Jews for being condescending. Ironically, over time, Jewish Christians became a minute minority as nowadays, most believers are Gentiles. It is a good thing. If Christianity had remained a sect within Judaism, it would have been wiped out as there is only a handful of Messianic Jews within the 14 million Jewry worldwide. Paul made sure then that there was only one body through Christ who died for all, whether Jew or Gentile and the irony of it all is that although Christ was Jew and the Apostles and most believers of the early church were Jews, it is today a faith of mostly Gentile believers but who nevertheless support and believe that presentday Jews will one day turn to Christ and be saved.

Coming back to the social exclusion issue by friends and fellow believers, I think the easiest way not to be snubbed is for us to organise our own social gatherings! We then get to decide who attends and who doesn’t! The challenge will then fall on us to ensure no one is snubbed! It’s quite a challenge, actually, as we can’t be inviting the whole church or all of our friends to our event!

I feel that the message today is that there is no need to feel excluded. Everyone has limitations. If we make the move to be inclusive and include more people ourselves, those same people will remember us when they organise gatherings. The logic is real. The more inclusive we are, the more we will be included. In the end, in the context of the church, what matters is that all of us are in Christ and are collectively and individually on our journey to eternity! Social events are not such a big deal, after all.

The LORD looks at the heart

https://odb.org/2025/02/07/not-irrelevant

1 Samuel 16:6–13 (NIV): 6 When they arrived, Samuel saw Eliab and thought, “Surely the LORD’s anointed stands here before the LORD.” 7 But the LORD said to Samuel, “Do not consider his appearance or his height, for I have rejected him. The LORD does not look at the things people look at. People look at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart.” 8 Then Jesse called Abinadab and had him pass in front of Samuel. But Samuel said, “The LORD has not chosen this one either.” 9 Jesse then had Shammah pass by, but Samuel said, “Nor has the LORD chosen this one.” 10 Jesse had seven of his sons pass before Samuel, but Samuel said to him, “The LORD has not chosen these.” 11 So he asked Jesse, “Are these all the sons you have?” “There is still the youngest,” Jesse answered. “He is tending the sheep.” Samuel said, “Send for him; we will not sit down until he arrives.” 12 So he sent for him and had him brought in. He was glowing with health and had a fine appearance and handsome features.
Then the LORD said, “Rise and anoint him; this is the one.” 13 So Samuel took the horn of oil and anointed him in the presence of his brothers, and from that day on, the Spirit of the LORD came powerfully upon David. Samuel then went to Ramah.

The story of David’s anointing as the future King of Israel by the LORD God through prophet Samuel in 1 Samuel 16 is a famous and very popular story often preached or referred to on the pulpit. Verse 7 is usually the focal point where God spoke to Samuel, saying that He looks at the heart while others look at appearance. From the eight sons of Jesse, God chose the youngest who was still in his teens and thus the weakest. But it was the right choice by the LORD God as later proven by David’s spectacular and overwhelming defeat of the Philistine giant Goliath. In fact, Goliath became synonymous with giants, and that story is often cited cursorily as an example of someone or something small being able to defeat someone or something much bigger. Cursorily because the real spiritual principle behind that story as we dwell deeper into it is that with God on our side, we can overcome giants or triumph when odds are against us.

An equally important principle I like to highlight this morning is that God looks at the heart. Something people often have difficulty judging because the heart of man can be evil and conniving indeed. Thus, we judge by appearance or reputation or track record. For example, who knows what the heart of the PMX was when he pushed for investments by the hyperscalers in cloud infrastructure. Was it for the country’s good or his own popularity or political self-preservation or a combination? As members of the public, we can only judge by the economic results it brings in terms of jobs or the raising of our standard of living.

As believers, we may take advantage of God looking at hearts by preparing our hearts such that we are always putting Him first in all things. Seek ye first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness and  all these shall be added unto you is the right principle of heart to go for. Jesus Christ will evaluate us on the Bema judgment seat of Christ based on the things God had planned for us. Did we respond to His calling for our lives? Did we fulfil His plans and purposes for us? If our heart is always for God and we do things to serve Him genuinely and sincerely always, we should be fine. Remember, it is not what people see that matters but what God sees, and God sees everything, especially our hearts!

We need to cultivate our own garden

https://odb.org/2025/02/06/a-cultivating-life

Genesis 2:4–9, 15 (NIV): 4 This is the account of the heavens and the earth when they were created, when the LORD God made the earth and the heavens. 5 Now no shrub had yet appeared on the earth and no plant had yet sprung up, for the LORD God had not sent rain on the earth and there was no one to work the ground, 6 but streams came up from the earth and watered the whole surface of the ground. 7 Then the LORD God formed a man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being. 8 Now the LORD God had planted a garden in the east, in Eden; and there he put the man he had formed. 9 The LORD God made all kinds of trees grow out of the ground—trees that were pleasing to the eye and good for food. In the middle of the garden were the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.  15 The Lord God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it.

In the beginning, when the LORD God created man and the earth, He created a specific garden in the East for man to live in. Up till Genesis 2:15, the man was still alone. It was only in the subsequent verses that the woman was created from his rib to be his companion. But the point is that God had instructed man to work and take care of the Garden of Eden with its plants and vegetation.

Anyone who has had a garden will know that trees and plants, including unwanted weeds and invasive species, will grow naturally so long as there is sunlight and rain. God has made it that way since the beginning. Thus, if we want something specific from our garden, we need to plant and cultivate it, and it will grow and bear fruit. For example, papaya or banana trees. Every other creature in the vicinity of the garden will also want to have the fruits of the trees we plant, and thus, we need to take steps to secure and protect them. If not, in the case of my garden, the birds of the air or squirrels or monkeys will devour them.

The Garden of Eden is a picture of our spiritual life. Like Adam and Eve as the first humans who needed to work and cultivate Eden, we need to do the same for our spiritual life. We need to secure the fruits that come with hearing and obeying the Word of God, or else the evil one will come and snatch it away. In fact, if we are not careful, as Jesus has taught us before in the Parable of the Sower, the Word may be taken away by the devil and his minions. Or if we allow weeds (cares of life) to grow in our garden (spiritual life), the weeds will choke the life out of the plants that are growing. In other words, we will get distracted, and the plans and purposes of God will not be achieved in our lives. Instead of serving God, we will serve our own desires of the flesh. See Luke 8:4-15 for the full details.

As I have written before in these pages, we have a responsibility to work and take care of our spiritual life. In fact, we need to work and take care of the garden (or land) God has given us, our inheritance in Him, and that includes His plans and purposes for our lives. Not just our eternal life but the things He has prepared for us during our lifetime on this earth since the foundations of the world.

Focus on Jesus

https://odb.org/2025/02/05/dont-miss-the-point

John 5:36–40 (NIV): 36 “I have testimony weightier than that of John. For the works that the Father has given me to finish—the very works that I am doing—testify that the Father has sent me. 37 And the Father who sent me has himself testified concerning me. You have never heard his voice nor seen his form, 38 nor does his word dwell in you, for you do not believe the one he sent. 39 You study the Scriptures diligently because you think that in them you have eternal life. These are the very Scriptures that testify about me, 40 yet you refuse to come to me to have life.

In John 5:36-40, Jesus was basically telling the Jewish religious authorities then that in focusing on the law, they missed out on the Scriptures that spoke about Him as the Messiah or Christ. They studied the Scriptures to have eternal life and yet refused to go to Him to have eternal life when He is the way, the truth, and the life. In a similar fashion, the writer of today’s ODB missed her highway exit when she focussed too much on overtaking to get to her lane for the exit! Often, when it comes to highway exits, slowing down to change lanes to exit is a much better strategy than overtaking.

Serving God is definitely one of our obligations and responsibilities as a believer of Christ. Not for fame or fortune. But because we love Him and we want to repay Him with gratitude for what Christ did for us on Calvary, resetting us on a trajectory that will end in eternal life. We want Christ to commend us at the end that we have been a good and faithful servant. That having responded to His calling, we have been faithful to His plans and purposes for our lives. Not so much our achievements in ministry, but did we do the tasks we were supposed to do? If, as a soldier, we are to be a sentry at a guard post, are we measured by how many enemy soldiers we eliminated? Surely, the KPI of a sentry differs from that of a sniper.

The point this morning, however, is a little bit more subtle. It is well and good if we are faithfully and diligently serving God and fulfilling His plans and purposes for our lives. That’s our goal and KPI. But is Christian life all about that only? Surely not! Our faith is more about Christ and our relationship with Him. We serve Him, but we also need to relate to Him. In fact, that’s more fundamental. God created Adam and Eve so that He may fellowship and relate to mankind, unlike the beasts of the earth or the birds of the air. In the same rein, Christ saved us, so we may have fellowship with Him and the Father.

Let’s pause for a moment and consider where we are in Christ. It is better to slow down to change lanes to get to the exit than to overtake to change lanes! Slow down a little and enjoy moments of fellowship with Jesus Christ, our Lord, and Saviour!

You have set my feet in a spacious place

https://odb.org/2025/02/04/a-spacious-place

Psalm 31 NIV – 8 You have not given me into the hands of the enemy but have set my feet in a spacious place.

The moment we are born onto this earth, we face a narrowing space in terms of our life here on earth. We all have our respective expiry dates as God gives each of us a specific period to live out our lives. During that narrowing space, we will find our place in this world. Some of us get married and have someone close to us for the rest of our lives. As the Chinese say, we grow old together – exploring and discovering life together with its challenges, beauty, and joy. But as each of us are individuals, we have our own narrowing space. It may or may not be aligned even between spouses and loved ones.

We know from the Word of God that our narrowing space is due to the original sin by Adam and Eve deceived by the Devil in the form of a serpent leading to them taking a bite of the forbidden fruit from the tree of knowledge of good and evil. They only had one rule in Eden, and that was not to eat from that tree, and yet man, with his curious and doubting nature, was taken advantage of by Satan.

God loved us so much that He sent His only son to die for our sins, and as a result, we are now reconciled back to God through our faith in Jesus Christ. The Lamb of God, the Son of Man, redeemed our souls once and for all! From the narrowing space, we now have a spacious space as spoken and sung by David in Psalm 31:8. It is spacious because it lasts forever. It is eternal notwithstanding that our space here on earth is narrowing. It gives us joy and hope instead of hopelessness and despair. No matter what we are facing now, some of us may already be in old age, we have the assurance that we will not fade away into nothingness like the flowers in the field that wither and die. We will return to the earth as dust as God made us from dust, but our spirit will live on forever in Christ, and one day, we will be resurrected in our glorified bodies and live in the new heaven and new earth where God will dwell amongst His people once again. It will be like the Eden at creation again!

Let our countenance be lifted up even if we are discouraged by the circumstances of our lives. Life can sometimes be boring as it may be the same old, same old. Discover and fulfil God’s purposes and plans for our lives and live in the centre of His will! I am sure we will face exciting and exhilarating times! It is Tuesday only today! 6 more days of this week is ahead of us! Make full use of our given narrowing time here on earth to serve and glorify His name in Christ Jesus! Always be reminded that Christ has gone ahead to prepare a spacious place for us as His Father’s mansion has many rooms!

Humility before God

https://odb.org/2025/02/03/we-are-lowly-and-loved

I am sure we all know by now one secret to the heart of God, and that is to be humble before Him. God loves the humble but hates the proud.

You can see this in Psalm 138:6 ESV – For though the Lord is high, he regards the lowly, but the haughty he knows from afar. If you refer to James 4:6 NIV, James was even more direct – “God opposes the proud but shows favour to the humble.”

We may say that the life of Saul and David is a contrast between the humble and the proud. While Saul took matters into his own hands and offered the burnt offering to God himself, David fought Goliath when he was still in his youth. Saul thought that as King, he was entitled not to wait for Samuel, the prophet and priest, in the sense that Saul probably treated the offering as just a formality to be complied with customarily.

But in contrast, David depended totally on God when he faced the giant Goliath (who was either 6′ 9″ or 9′ 9″). David repented of his sin when Prophet Nathan confronted him on his adultery with Bethsheba. In the end, it was Bethsheba’s son, Solomon, the wisest man alive then and probably the wisest ever lived, who carried on David’s legacy and formed the lineage that our Lord Jesus Christ, the one and only Son of God, came to earth as our Saviour and Lord. Repentance is humility before God and can turn sin into victory.

As humans and even as believers, we have a tendency to tell others of our achievements. We want to show that we have done something meaningful with our lives. In the process, we may overdo it and become proud. Pride comes because we think we did it with our own strength and ability. In most cases, it is because God blesses us that we are who we are today. The opportunity came about because God brought it into our lives. Perhaps our part is to take up the opportunity that God made available. That may have required courage and boldness. It may have been a step of faith. Remember the parable of the rich man? He had so much grain to last for many months and decided to tear down the old barns to build new ones and enjoy life. But that very night, God took his life.

In the end, who holds the keys to our continued success and prosperity? Our business may not grow bigger and bigger each year. That is why it is always prudent to give thanks to God and always have savings for the rainy days.

The message this morning is that if we feel deep down inside us that our success today is entirely our own doing, we are being proud. To be humble, we need to acknowledge and know that a lot of who we are and where we are is because of the goodness, providence, blessings, and grace of God. Remember, the LORD opposes the proud but shows favour to the humble. Why would we want God to be against us?

The LORD, our sure foundation

https://odb.org/2025/01/28/foundations

Isaiah 33: 5-6 NIV – The Lord is exalted, for he dwells on high; he will fill Zion with his justice and righteousness. 6 He will be the sure foundation for your times, a rich store of salvation and wisdom and knowledge; the fear of the Lord is the key to this treasure.

Unless we are a civil engineer constructing buildings, few of us will have experience or even knowledge building foundations to buildings. Generally, a simple foundation like spread (column) footing is required for our usual two or even three story residential houses, subject to soil conditions (see below). Piling is usually only required for high rises. The idea is to spread the load evenly across the floor to avoid cracks at the walls in the future. The foundation is thus built in the present for the future to ensure longevity of the building so that it will stand the loads and elements for hundreds of years to come.

Similarly, our spiritual life also requires a good foundation in the present for the future, that it may withstand the test of time and the trials and tribulations that life brings us. The difference between our spiritual foundation and the foundations of buildings is that the latter is only built once, whereas the foundation for our faith may be continually built upon by God for our future life in Him.

Jesus taught us the need for a good foundation clearly in Matthew 7:24-27 ESV:

24 “Everyone then who hears these words of mine and does them, will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock. 25 And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, but it did not fall, because it had been founded on the rock. 26 And everyone who hears these words of mine and does not do them will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. 27 And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell, and great was the fall of it.”

We need to build our faith on Jesus as the Rock by hearing His words and doing them so that when the rain falls and floods come and the wind blows and beats the house (our faith), we will not fall. In other words, our faith must be sincere, real, and genuine. Not just saying the Sinner’s prayer, although that’s an excellent start but living out our faith in God with an ongoing relationship and communion with the LORD in Christ. We need to obey His words and do them. We need to invest time to do our quiet time, to pray, and to grow in our knowledge of God and our Lord Jesus Christ. We need to serve Him with our good works and see our faith and the spiritual realm supernaturally interact with the natural and experience His healing, signs, and wonders and miracles. We will experience the reality of God as we see our prayers coming to pass, one by one!

Happy Chinese New Year Eve! Xin Nian Kuai Le! As we celebrate and enjoy our reunion dinner or lunches today or tomorrow, may we always give glory and thanks to the LORD our God, our sure foundation, our rich store of salvation and wisdom and knowledge! Hallelujah! Praise the Lord, for He is good, all the time!

Elisha and the widow

https://odb.org/2025/01/27/blessed-to-be-a-blessing

2 Kings 4:1–7 (ESV): 4 Now the wife of one of the sons of the prophets cried to Elisha, “Your servant my husband is dead, and you know that your servant feared the LORD, but the creditor has come to take my two children to be his slaves.” 2 And Elisha said to her, “What shall I do for you? Tell me; what have you in the house?” And she said, “Your servant has nothing in the house except a jar of oil.” 3 Then he said, “Go outside, borrow vessels from all your neighbors, empty vessels and not too few. 4 Then go in and shut the door behind yourself and your sons and pour into all these vessels. And when one is full, set it aside.” 5 So she went from him and shut the door behind herself and her sons. And as she poured they brought the vessels to her. 6 When the vessels were full, she said to her son, “Bring me another vessel.” And he said to her, “There is not another.” Then the oil stopped flowing. 7 She came and told the man of God, and he said, “Go, sell the oil and pay your debts, and you and your sons can live on the rest.”

The key to the widow receiving God’s blessings of the oil that continuously flowed in 2 Kings 4:1-7 is the availability of the empty jars. The oil only stopped pouring when there were no more empty jars to fill. It speaks of obedience to God’s Word as spoken by His prophet Elisha. But more importantly, it speaks of the containment of God’s blessings. God will continue His blessings as long as we may contain them in terms of the size and the number of empty vessels (our hearts and our lives) available.

In the Bible, oil symbolises the anointing of God. Thus, a simple and direct application of 2 Kings 4:1-7 is that our anointing in God will continue to flow so long as we continue to exercise it. The more we pray, the more blessings will flow whether it is healing or word of knowledge or prophesy or words of exaltation and encouragement. The more we preach, the more lives will be touched, whether in terms of witnessing or from the pulpit. In terms of our finances, the more we give, the more God will bless us. Not necessarily to the church only but also to worthy causes, for missions, for the sake of the Gospel or to the needy and poor. Whatever unique talents and giftings God has given us, the more we use them to bless others, even more will be given to us. Jesus taught us this in the parable of the Talents:

Matthew 25:29 NLT – To those who use well what they are given, even more will be given, and they will have an abundance. But from those who do nothing, even what little they have will be taken away.

Have a great week ahead, everyone! Have a wonderful Chinese New Year celebration with our family and loved ones to all who are celebrating! Xin Nian Kuai Le! May we all dwell in the infinite and everflowing blessings of the LORD in 2025 as we use the talents and riches He has blessed us with to help and bless those around us!

True wisdom

https://odb.org/2025/01/26/true-fear

Proverbs 2:1–11 (ESV): 1 My son, if you receive my words and treasure up my commandments with you, 2 making your ear attentive to wisdom and inclining your heart to understanding; 3 yes, if you call out for insight and raise your voice for understanding, 4 if you seek it like silver
and search for it as for hidden treasures,
5 then you will understand the fear of the LORD and find the knowledge of God.

When I was a young believer, I couldn’t understand why anyone would struggle to choose wisdom over riches as, ultimately, with wisdom, you will get riches. It’s a no-brainer. It’s as easy as ABC. In other words, you don’t really need the wisest man in the world then, Solomon, to tell you this.

But wisdom is not just intelligence and being wise. True wisdom encompasses more than just the intellect. In the working world, we know that smart is not just academic ability but also street smartness, and that includes the ability to read situations, trends, body language, and people’s unwritten and unspoken preferences and aspirations. IQ, as well as EQ, and making the best of our own personality traits.

But the wisdom in the Bible that Solomon advocates is actually simpler than all that. From Proverbs to Ecclesiastes, in the end, Solomon concludes that true wisdom is the ability to choose God over everything else. In Proverbs 2:4-5, Solomon teaches that if you seek it like silver and search for it like hidden treasures, then you will understand the fear of the LORD and find the knowledge of God.

It is simple, yet God chose Solomon to teach it. Why God wanted the richest and smartest and wisest man then and possibly ever to teach it? Because the natural tendency for man (English caselaw uses the phrase “the man on the Clapham omnibus’) is to go the other way. We will seek riches first, instead of God, as we may somehow believe that in seeking God first, we will never be rich, or we could never be as rich as we could be. Perhaps we are of the view that money could solve anything and everything, and thus, having money is the key to a good and happy life. While there is some truth to it, people who have gone down this path always advise that things that can not be solved with money are the toughest of all things. Meaning to say that money can not solve all things.

Jesus taught it brilliantly in Matthew 6:33 – “Seek ye first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added unto you.” It is the same wisdom taught centuries before by Solomon during ancient times. Choose God, and everything else will come into place. Jesus went on to say in Matthew 16:26 for what profits a man if he gains the whole world but loses his soul? In Matthew 13:44, Jesus taught the following:

44 “The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field. When a man found it, he hid it again, and then in his joy went and sold all he had and bought that field.

In other words, our soul and our eternal life are worth everything we have and more! In fact, if everything we have is the whole world, it is worth more than that!

It is OK if we are not Jeff Bezos or Elon Musk or Bill Gates or Warren Buffet, or even that family down the road. We live by and in accordance with what we have and what God has blessed us with, knowing and always appreciating that the real blessing from God is His gift of salvation for us and our loved ones. That’s what matters most. Always choose God and put Him first in all things! That’s the wisdom taught by the Word of God.

Have a good Sunday service today! May we all see Him face to face in the spirit in worship!