Voice: Doreen
Today is Wednesday, 21st of January. As we welcome the gift of another day, we pray:
O Lord, open our lips;
and our mouth shall proclaim your praise.
Let us worship the Lord.
All praise to his name.
Blessed are you, Sovereign God,
king of the nations,
to you be praise and glory for ever.
From the rising of the sun to its setting
your name is proclaimed in all the world.
As the Sun of Righteousness dawns in our hearts
anoint our lips with the seal of your Spirit
that we may witness to your gospel
and sing your praise in all the earth.
Blessed be God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
Blessed be God for ever
Psalm 112
Praise the Lord!
Blessed is the man who fears the Lord,
who greatly delights in his commandments!
2 His offspring will be mighty in the land;
the generation of the upright will be blessed.
3 Wealth and riches are in his house,
and his righteousness endures forever.
4 Light dawns in the darkness for the upright;
he is gracious, merciful, and righteous.
5 It is well with the man who deals generously and lends;
who conducts his affairs with justice.
6 For the righteous will never be moved;
he will be remembered forever.
7 He is not afraid of bad news;
his heart is firm, trusting in the Lord.
8 His heart is steady; he will not be afraid,
until he looks in triumph on his adversaries.
9 He has distributed freely; he has given to the poor;
his righteousness endures forever;
his horn is exalted in honor.
10 The wicked man sees it and is angry;
he gnashes his teeth and melts away;
the desire of the wicked will perish!
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 24:36-44
36“But concerning that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father only.
37For as were the days of Noah, so will be the coming of the Son of Man.
38For as in those days before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day when Noah entered the ark,
39and they were unaware until the flood came and swept them all away, so will be the coming of the Son of Man.
40Then two men will be in the field; one will be taken and one left.
41Two women will be grinding at the mill; one will be taken and one left.
42Therefore, stay awake, for you do not know on what day your Lord is coming.
43But know this, that if the master of the house had known in what part of the night the thief was coming, he would have stayed awake and would not have let his house be broken into.
44Therefore you also must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.
This is the Word of the Lord
Thanks be to God
Stay Awake
We have been reflecting on Noah, his ark, and the floods. Jesus returns to this story when he teaches about final judgment and the end of the age in Gospel of Matthew 24.
He warns us that the end will come when we least expect it. No one knows the day or the hour—neither angels nor human beings—only the Father. Yet Jesus tells us that it will be like the days of Noah.
Before the flood, people were “eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage.” These were not excessive or immoral behaviours. They were simply living out the ordinary rhythms of life. And that remains true today. We eat. We drink. We marry. We raise children. We give our children in marriage. One generation follows another. As people say, we rinse and repeat.
The danger is not wickedness, but unawareness.
Life is so predictable in its cycles that we plan for the future as if the past will always repeat itself. Working in the field and grinding at the mill are images of daily routine. We assume tomorrow will be like yesterday, and the day after like today. The very normality of life lulls us into thinking that life will be “same same.”
Yet Jesus says there will come a day when everything changes.
One will be taken, and one will be left.
In the light of Noah’s story, this is sobering. Those who were swept or taken away by the flood perished. Those who entered the ark were saved. Jesus’ call to “stay awake” is therefore not about anxiety, but about readiness—about being found in the place of refuge when judgment comes.
Life as we know it will end. The eating, drinking, marrying, and the continuation of generations will cease. There will be a final separation—the separation Jesus elsewhere describes as the sheep and the goats. And what determines that separation is not productivity, success, or normality, but our relationship with the Son of Man.
Today’s reading is therefore a deeply sobering word from Jesus. The people in Noah’s time did not expect a global flood. And so Jesus says to us: “You also must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.”
At a personal level, this reminds us that we do not know when or how our own lives—or the lives of those we love—will end. That truth calls us to live each day wisely, faithfully, and lovingly. At a collective level, we know how suddenly life together can be disrupted. Recent catastrophes—such as the COVID pandemic—have shown us how quickly the world we take for granted can change.
But when it comes to our eternal future, Jesus’ call is clear.
Stay awake.
Be watchful.
Be found in Christ.
For the ark is no longer made of wood.
It is found in the mercy of God.
And it is finally revealed in the Son of Man himself.
We pray the Collect of the Day:
Almighty God,
in Christ you make all things new:
transform the poverty of our nature by the riches of your grace,
and in the renewal of our lives make known your heavenly glory;
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.
Be blessed by this song, How can I keep from Singing, by Audrey Assad
My life flows on in endless song;
Above earth’s lamentation,
I catch the sweet†, tho’ far-off hymn
That hails a new creation;
Thro’ all the tumult and the strife
I hear the music ringing;
It finds an echo in my soul—
How can I keep from singing?
What tho’ my joys and comforts die?
The Lord my Saviour liveth;
What tho’ the darkness gather round?
Songs in the night he giveth.
No storm can shake my inmost calm
While to that refuge clinging;
Since Christ is Lord of heaven and earth,
How can I keep from singing?
I lift my eyes; the cloud grows thin;
I see the blue above it;
And day by day this pathway smooths,
Since first I learned to love it,
The peace of Christ makes fresh my heart,
A fountain ever springing;
All things are mine since I am his—
How can I keep from singing?
How Can I Keep from Singing · Audrey Assad Inheritance ℗ 2016 Fortunate Fall Records
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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