A Voice In The Wilderness

A Christian student works honestly on his assignment. He refuses to cheat. His friend, however, plagiarises his work. In the end, the student receives a B-, while his friend gets an A. A Christian salesperson refuses to lie or exaggerate to close more sales. As a result, he is passed over for promotion, while colleagues who were dishonest in their dealings are promoted ahead of him. A Christian business owner refuses to pay bribes in order to secure a deal. His competitors seize the opportunity and win the contract through dishonest means. A Christian chooses to serve God—in church or in missions—and in doing so misses opportunities that her peers use to upgrade themselves, build wealth, and advance their careers. Do these sound familiar? These are the realities many of us face every day—in school, at work, and in society. At times it seems like choosing God’s way doesn’t pay in this world. We may go to church each Sunday offering Him praise. But during the...

The Compassion of Christ

The artist James Tissot painted a striking work entitled What Jesus Saw on the Cross . Rather than portraying Jesus as an object to be observed, Tissot shifts the vantage point. We are made to see what Christ would have seen as He hung there—faces turned upward, bodies gathered below, a chaotic mixture of hostility, curiosity, fear, and grief. The effect is profoundly unsettling. We are no longer mere observers. We are "forced" into identifying with Christ—seeing through His eyes, while sensing the agony of the thorns pressed into His brow, the scourged and torn flesh of His back, and the nails driven through His hands and feet. I cannot imagine the pain and emotions of Christ as He looked at the people gathered below. But I can imagine mine. I would be filled with pain and agony. The searing pain of the thorny crown. The torn and tattered back. The nails driven through my hands and feet. Such unbearable discomfort— I would long to b...

Don't Waste Your Sickness

So often when we fall ill, our natural instinct is to pursue healing. Our minds are pre-occupied with wanting to recover as soon as possible. However we fail to pause and consider what the Lord may be saying to us and risk wasting the sickness altogether. My appeal is that even as we pursue recovery, let us also take time to seek the Lord and discern the cause(s) of our sickness so that we can pray more appropriately for healing. 1. Careless Living It is a known fact that the lack of balanced diet and exercise will lead to several physical ailments. Our physical body is the temple of the Holy Spirit (1 Cor 6:19); and we are to glorify Him with our body. Glorifying God with our body includes being good stewards of our body. Observing a balanced diet and having a healthy dose of exercise will help us prevent chronic diseases like diabetes or high blood pressure. Observing Sabbath rest also allows the body to be renewed and refreshed. If we have been guilty of careless living, we need t...

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