Wednesday, March 29, 2006

mid-week thoughts.

studying's a drag. the last report (hopefully) is horrendous. but amidst all these i can still give praise to Him for miraculously sustaining me everyday on 4 hours of sleep. something i never thought i could achieve. since friday sleeping for just 4 hours a day and during the day i have lessons, i'm doing my reports, i'm studying for my exams. amazing strength i can get from God.

devotionals on Ephesians have been very enlightening. i'm thankful for Pastor's daily devotionals and i have learnt so much starting from Genesis, Exodus, and now Ephesians. Not to mention Matthew too. oh and meditation passages from Psalms. One thing that really struck me was how men tried in vain to exalt their names above all else, so that when they pass on, their names would be remembered by many. but yet one Name stands above all else. and it's this Name that stands the test of time, stands the test of everything that has happened and yet, we still greatly praise Him. just like what the Psalmist wrote,

“For he sees wise men die;
Likewise the fool and the senseless person perish,
And leave their wealth to others.
Their inner thought is that their houses will last forever,
Their dwelling places to all generations;
They call their lands after their own names.
Nevertheless man, though in honour, does not remain,
He is like the beasts that perish.”
- Psalm 49:10-12

however...

“Therefore God also has highly exalted Him
and given Him the name which is above every name,
that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow,
of those in heaven, and of those on earth,
and of those under the earth, and that every tongue
should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord,
to the glory of God the Father.”
- Philippians 2:9-11

how truly wonderful that is. and how apt it is. His name is really above the rest.

***

yesterday or last week, my friend was commenting she has Bible study to go to, so she won't be joining us to study at the HSS library/canteen.

and my other friend, who is a free thinker, commented,

"study your books lah, already no time to study for exams, still go and study Bible."

or something along these lines.

and it struck me. maybe we Christians are really different from the rest of the World. Here is a girl who is willing to give up studying time (when we have so little time left!) to go for Bible study and study the Bible instead of her books.

because the Word of God just surpasses all kinds of books. because the Bible contains a whole wealth of knowledge that no other book can give. because reading it just brings us a step closer to forging a deeper relationship with God and to understand Him better, just like how we read textbooks to understand a particular concept (like immunology....).

because it's God's Word.

pastor mitch asked the young people during ypg some weeks back. just how many hours do we devote studying the Bible compared to the number of hours we spend studying our textbooks. i really never thought of it that way, but the ratio is really tilted towards textbooks! and i wondered how can i study the textbooks so much but yet give so little time to the Word of God?

that really spurred me on to fulfill one of my 2006 resolutions to really study and ponder over the Word of God. and no matter how busy or tired i am, i resolved to read His word, even if it's just one chapter. or one devotional.

yes. and no matter how much i need to study my textbooks in view of the looming exams.

and just a reminder to self,

"Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.
For all that is in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—is not of the Father but is of the world.
And the world is passing away, and the lust of it; but he who does the will of God abides forever."

- 1 John 2:15-17

=)

This girl posted at 12:21 AM