Voice: Shivdas
Today is Friday, 2nd of January. A year has passed, and a new year lies open before us. Let us pray with one heart and mind.
Silence is kept.
As we rejoice in the gift of this new year,
so may the light of your presence, O God,
set our hearts on fire with love for you;
now and for ever.
Amen.
Psalm 18:1-6
I love you, O Lord, my strength.
2 The Lord is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer,
my God, my rock, in whom I take refuge,
my shield, and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold.
3 I call upon the Lord, who is worthy to be praised,
and I am saved from my enemies.
4 The cords of death encompassed me;
the torrents of destruction assailed me;[a]
5 the cords of Sheol entangled me;
the snares of death confronted me.
6 In my distress I called upon the Lord;
to my God I cried for help.
From his temple he heard my voice,
and my cry to him reached his ears.
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.
Colossians 2:8-15
8 See to it that no one takes you captive by philosophy and empty deceit, according to human tradition, according to the elemental spirits of the world, and not according to Christ. 9 For in him the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily,10 and you have been filled in him, who is the head of all rule and authority. 11 In him also you were circumcised with a circumcision made without hands, by putting off the body of the flesh, by the circumcision of Christ, 12 having been buried with him in baptism, in which you were also raised with him through faith in the powerful working of God, who raised him from the dead. 13 And you, who were dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made alive together with him, having forgiven us all our trespasses, 14 by canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This he set aside, nailing it to the cross. 15 He disarmed the rulers and authorities and put them to open shame, by triumphing over them in him.
This is the Word of the Lord
Thanks be to God
Nailed to the Cross
Have you ever found a parking ticket tucked under your windshield?
Or received a summons to court?
Have you ever faced a legal charge and had to wait anxiously for months, hoping your name would be cleared?
Here in Singapore, if you fall on the wrong side of the law, the process takes its course. There is often very little you can do except engage a lawyer and hope for the best. The law may protect us, but when it turns against us, it can feel relentless. You cannot stop it. You cannot reverse it. You can only submit yourself to the process and wait for the outcome.
Financial debt works in a similar way. Once you are trapped in it, it can feel suffocating. The logic of debt is unforgiving — it accumulates, it demands repayment, and it grows heavier with time. If left unresolved, it becomes a nightmare.
Scripture tells us that this is also the human spiritual condition. We stand under a moral and spiritual debt we cannot repay. The law exposes our guilt, but it cannot rescue us. We are, as Scripture puts it, dead in our trespasses. We cannot undo the past. We cannot erase our failures. We are helpless before the weight of our own wrongdoing.
The legal papers keep piling up.
But here is the good news of the Gospel: God cancels our debt.
And He does so not by ignoring justice, but by fulfilling it — through the cross of Christ.
Hear again the dull, heavy sound of iron striking wood.
The stillness of the crowd holding its breath.
The finality of each blow echoing through the air.
On that cross, God nailed every legal demand against us.
Every charge.
Every accusation.
Every failure.
As Scripture says:
“He canceled the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This he set aside, nailing it to the cross.” (Colossians 2:14)
As a new year begins, will you allow God to do this work in you once more?
Will you let Him nail the consequences of your failures and disobedience to the cross?
Will you allow Him to press the reset button?
Do not cling to what Christ has already carried.
Do not retrieve what He has already nailed down.
Leave it there.
And begin again in grace.
Hear again the words Jesus spoke to the woman who stood condemned:
“Go, and sin no more.”
This is not condemnation — it is liberation.
This is not denial — it is redemption.
This is the freedom of a forgiven life.
We pray this prayer which is often said in Covenant Services:
Christ has many services to be done:
some are easy, others are difficult;
some bring honour, others bring reproach;
some are suitable to our natural inclinations and material interests,
others are contrary to both;
in some we may please Christ and please ourselves;
in others we cannot please Christ except by denying ourselves.
Yet the power to do all these things is given to us in Christ,
who strengthens us.
Amen.
Be blessed by this song, Mercy + When I Think About The Lord
I’m living proof
Of what the mercy of God can do
If You knew me then
You’d believe me now
He turned my whole life upside down
Took the old and He made it new
That’s just what the mercy of God can do
Now I’m alive to tell the story
How I’ve overcome
It’s His goodness and mercy
And the power of His blood
I’m so glad that my freedom
Wasn’t based on what I’ve done
The goodness and mercy
And the power of the blood
So much power in the blood
I thought I deserved
Oh, to be six feet beneath the earth
For all the things I’ve done
The things I’ve said
The choices made that I regret
Oh, I would still be lost
Oh, but for the mercy of God
Now I’m alive to tell the story
How I’ve overcome
It’s His goodness and mercy
And the power of the blood
I’m so glad that my freedom
Wasn’t based on what I’ve done
But the goodness and mercy
And the power of the blood
When I think about the Lord
How He saved me, how He raised me
How He filled me, with the Holy Ghost
How He healed me, to the Uttermost
When I Think about the Lord,
How He picked me up and turned me around,
How He placed my feet on solid ground
It makes me wanna shout, Hallelujah,
Thank you, Jesus Lord, your worthy, of all the glory, and all the honor,
And all the praise
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 terrywong@anglican.org.sg
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