Voice: Doreen
Today is Thursday, 6th of November. Whatever you are planning to do today, take a moment to commit your plans to the Lord.
We pray:
Blessed are you, creator of all,
to you be praise and glory for ever.
As your dawn renews the face of the earth
bringing light and life to all creation,
may we rejoice in this day you have made;
as we wake refreshed from the depths of sleep,
open our eyes to behold your presence
and strengthen our hands to do your will,
that the world may rejoice and give you praise.
Blessed be God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
Amen
Psalm 15
O Lord, who shall sojourn in your tent?
Who shall dwell on your holy hill?
2 He who walks blamelessly and does what is right
and speaks truth in his heart;
3 who does not slander with his tongue
and does no evil to his neighbor,
nor takes up a reproach against his friend;
4 in whose eyes a vile person is despised,
but who honors those who fear the Lord;
who swears to his own hurt and does not change;
5 who does not put out his money at interest
and does not take a bribe against the innocent.
He who does these things shall never be moved.
Glory to the Father, and to the Son,
and to the Holy Spirit:
as It was in the beginning, is
now, and shall be forever. Amen.
Matthew 3:7-12
7But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to his baptism, he said to them, “You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? 8Bear fruit in keeping with repentance. 9And do not presume to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father,’ for I tell you, God is able from these stones to raise up children for Abraham. 10Even now the axe is laid to the root of the trees. Every tree therefore that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.
11“I baptize you with water for repentance, but he who is coming after me is mightier than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. 12His winnowing fork is in his hand, and he will clear his threshing floor and gather his wheat into the barn, but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire.”
Reflection
Entitlement is the attitude or belief that one deserves certain treatment or privileges without having earned them. A person may also assume that because he has acted well in some areas of life, he is therefore permitted to break laws or moral principles occasionally.
In this passage, John the Baptist rebuked the Pharisees and Sadducees for presuming that they were entitled to forgiveness simply because they were descendants of Abraham. They assumed that their heritage guaranteed their place before God, even though they did not bear the fruits of repentance.
Scripture repeatedly shows that God is supremely concerned with who we are becoming.
How are we bearing the image of God?
How are we fulfilling His calling for our lives?
As we live, we are constantly changing.
The question is: Are we growing into Christ-likeness, or drifting away from it?
Our natural instinct is to protect our own security, rights, and privileges. Like the religious leaders, we may assume that forgiveness is all we need. But God desires more than forgiveness; He desires transformation.
He calls us to bear fruit in keeping with repentance — fruit that reflects His character.
John points to this as central to the ministry of Jesus: “He will fill us with His Spirit and purify us with fire, so that we may be refined like gold.”
As God said through the prophet Zechariah:
“And I will put this third into the fire,
and refine them as one refines silver,
and test them as gold is tested.” — Zechariah 13:9
Perhaps He is using trials and suffering to purify you. As 1 Peter 1:6-7 says — “In this you rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials, so that the tested genuineness of your faith — more precious than gold which perishes though it is tested by fire — may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ.”
So do not live as one who bears bad fruit.
A bad tree is useless in the kingdom of God.
Do not be chaff — blown away and finally burned.
You are a child of God. In your becoming, be more like Him.
We end with the Collect of the Day:
Almighty and eternal God,
you have kindled the flame of love in the hearts of the saints:
grant to us the same faith and power of love,
that, as we rejoice in their triumphs,
we may be sustained by their example and fellowship;
through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord,
who is alive and reigns with you,
in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen
In closing, be blessed by this song, Restore my Soul
Restore my soul revive my heart
Renew my life in every part
Reveal to me what sin remains
Then lead me to the cross again
At the cross I’ll find the way
To live the life Your hand has made
So find me there Lord and help me stay
In true surrender with You my Savior
Relight the fire that burned so strong
Reminding me what You have done
My one request is to be changed
So lead me to the cross again
Relight the fire that burned so strong
Reminding me what You have done
My one request is to be changed
So lead me to the cross again
At the cross, I’ll find the way
To live the life Your hand has made
So find me there, Lord, and help me stay
In true surrender with You, my Savior
So find me there, Lord, and help me stay
In true surrender with You, my Savior
With You my Savior
Link to today’s Morning Office
About This Daily Devotion
This weekday devotion is drawn from the Morning Office and is part of a project initiated by Revd Canon Terry Wong, with contributions from clergy and members across various parishes. Each entry includes selected readings from the appointed Psalm and another Scripture passage, accompanied by a reflection and prayer. An audio option is also available, often ending with a hymn or song. We encourage you to both read and listen.
Our aim is to help Anglicans engage more deeply with our rich liturgical tradition, while meeting the devotional needs of today’s believers. This project began on Ash Wednesday 2025 and is offered on weekdays only.
For feedback, please write to us at info@mpcc.org.sg
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