Closer Day By Day

Poetry - Ecclesiastes 1-2

Bible Passage:  Ecclesiastes 1-2 What am I living for? I thought, to live is to eat. So I fed myself with all kinds of delicacies and yummy treats, I go from place to place and made sure I tried all the chef’s recommendations. But one day, I fell ill and the doctor restricted my diet. And no more could I live to eat. Then I thought, to live is to enjoy, for life is short, we should lead each...

Poetry - Proverbs 31

Although we have come to the last chapter of Proverbs today, this does not mean that our journey with the Proverbs will end today.  Despite reading through it together and sharing our little insights and learnings from this book of Wisdom, there is still so much more wisdom for us to discover and put these lessons into our hearts and practice. Let us resolve to continue learning from the Word of...

Poetry - Proverbs 29-30

Yesterday was a busy but fun day.  Some of us went paintballing for the first time and although some left the game with bruises and bruised egos, we all had a load of fun.  And personally, I hope this will not be the last time for me. Here’s a picture of the motley crew… What has this to do with Proverbs? As I was reflecting on the paintball activity on the long taxi ride back to church,...

Poetry - Proverbs 28

From what we have read previously as well as the comments made, we know that sometimes, the Book of Proverbs does not tell us what we should or should not do in a straightforward manner; preferring to state certain facts that we have to interpret on our own. This makes us contemplate what we are reading and work to search out what exactly is the will of God in these verses. For this reason, certain...

Poetry - Proverbs 26-27

A maelstrom of feelings churns within me as I read our passage for today. While I feel joy at being affirmed in my long held beliefs and am glad to be reminded that they stem from the Bible, I also feel apprehension at being reminded that having and upholding these beliefs is one thing, actually living them is another. I can preach about them and believe them till I’m blue in the face but how...

Poetry - Proverbs 25

Today, we hit the book of wisdom again. Since we have been reading this book for quite some time and in great detail (relative to the prophetic and historical books), it is a good thing to step back, return to the basics and ponder what we are looking at here. For this reason, I’m starting with a very simple question here - what is wisdom? The book of proverbs tells us what wisdom is through...

Poetry - Proverbs 23-24

We have been reading Proverbs for quite some time now.  And if you had been following the readings on Proverbs, you will know that how practical and relevant has been the words of wisdom in my life.  I am sure it has also impacted you in your life in some way or another.  If yes, why not share with all of us? It’s been a long tiring week of lessons from the RE Retreat that just ended yesterday. During...

Poetry - Proverbs 22

We have read the book of Proverbs for quite a number of months now.  Four kinds of characters are often seen in this book.  Do you know who are they? The Simple, the Fool, the Scoffer and the Wise. We are going to focus our attention on one of them today but before that, let’s look at… Bible Passage:  Proverbs 22 We have talked quite a fair bit about the fool and wise in previous postings...

Poetry - Proverbs 20-21

In today’s passage, we have the Proverbs focusing on integrity and ethical issues in our lives. Take your time to read through it as there is much to think about and reflect… Bible Passage:  Proverbs 20-21 The Seller Have you ever gone to the night markets of Hong Kong, Bangkok or even Taiwan?  Or the flea markets of many countries.  While there is an excitement in finding new, interesting,...

Poetry - Proverbs 19

In our culture, we do not like to talk too much about the character of the ‘fool’, even though we see him or her everywhere.  The authors of the Proverbs were not so shy to address this and in today’s passage, we get yet another glimpse of the type of behaviour the foolish engage in. So if we want to avoid being foolish… we should read, reflect and renew our commitment to...