Voice: Mylene
Today is Friday, 6th of March. The night has passed, and the day lies open before us; let us pray with one heart and mind.
Silence is kept.
As we rejoice in the gift of this new day,
may the light of your presence, O God,
set our hearts on fire with love for you;
now and for ever.
Amen.
Psalm 40:1-8
I waited patiently for the Lord;
he inclined to me and heard my cry.
2 He drew me up from the pit of destruction,
out of the miry bog,
and set my feet upon a rock,
making my steps secure.
3 He put a new song in my mouth,
a song of praise to our God.
Many will see and fear,
and put their trust in the Lord.
4 Blessed is the man who makes
the Lord his trust,
who does not turn to the proud,
to those who go astray after a lie!
5 You have multiplied, O Lord my God,
your wondrous deeds and your thoughts toward us;
none can compare with you!
I will proclaim and tell of them,
yet they are more than can be told.
6 In sacrifice and offering you have not delighted,
but you have given me an open ear.[a]
Burnt offering and sin offering
you have not required.
7 Then I said, “Behold, I have come;
in the scroll of the book it is written of me:
8 I delight to do your will, O my God;
your law is within my heart.”
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.
Hebrews 3
7 Therefore, as the Holy Spirit says,
“Today, if you hear his voice,
8 do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion,
on the day of testing in the wilderness,
9 where your fathers put me to the test
and saw my works for forty years.
10 Therefore I was provoked with that generation,
and said, ‘They always go astray in their heart;
they have not known my ways.’
11 As I swore in my wrath,
‘They shall not enter my rest.’”
12 Take care, brothers, lest there be in any of you an evil, unbelieving heart, leading you to fall away from the living God. 13 But exhort one another every day, as long as it is called “today,” that none of you may be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin. 14 For we have come to share in Christ, if indeed we hold our original confidence firm to the end.
This is the Word of the Lord
Thanks be to God
Draw near to Him
In our devotion two days ago, we reflected on our tendency to drift away. What causes that drift? Is it an unbelieving heart—or a sinful one?
The writer of Hebrews quotes Psalm 95:
“Do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion.”
Why did Israel pull away from God in the wilderness? Was it sinful desire—or loss of trust? When Adam and Eve fell, did they distrust God’s Word, or were they attracted by the forbidden fruit?
The answer, surely, is both.
In Hebrews 3, the writer speaks of an “evil, unbelieving heart” and warns against “the deceitfulness of sin.” Unbelief and sin are close companions. They reinforce each other. Sin distorts trust; unbelief weakens obedience. Together, they slowly draw us away from a relationship with the living God.
And what a relationship that is meant to be.
Jesus says, “My sheep hear my voice” (John 10:27).
Paul reminds us that the Spirit causes us to cry, “Abba, Father” (Romans 8:15), and that those who are led by the Spirit are sons of God (Romans 8:14).
This is our birthright as children of God—to hear His voice, to know His Fatherly presence, and to experience the Spirit’s guidance. We are meant to know our Father and be known by Him.
Yet sin and unbelief—an ancient partnership—work subtly within us. Does sin weaken our faith? Or does weak faith lead us into sin? Perhaps those are the wrong questions. What matters is recognising how closely they cooperate in hardening the heart.
The writer of Hebrews urges us to “take care.” Be watchful. Be spiritually alert. Drifting rarely happens overnight. Hearts harden gradually. It is often imperceptible.
In a wealthy, urban, digitally connected culture like ours in Singapore, distractions abound. Comfort, success, endless information, and constant noise can slowly dull our sensitivity to God. Without vigilance, we may not even realise we are drifting.
But the passage does not leave us without hope. It offers an antidote:
“Exhort one another daily.”
More than ever, in our fight against unbelief and sin, we need one another. We need brothers and sisters who will speak truth into our lives—even when it is uncomfortable. We need encouragement to draw near to God when our hearts grow cold.
Christianity is not a solo journey. It is a shared pilgrimage.
At the heart of it all is intimacy with God. That is everything. It is, in the words of Jesus in Luke 10:42, the “one thing necessary.” Like Mary, we must learn to sit at His feet before we rush to serve.
🌿 Thought for Lent
Will you find intentional ways to draw near to God during this season?And will you reach out to a brother or sister whom you sense may be drifting—encouraging him or her to remain close to the living God?
We pray the Prayer of St. Ambrose of Milan, 339-397
O Lord, who hast mercy upon all,
take away from me my sins,
and mercifully kindle in me the fire of thy Holy Spirit.
Take away from me the heart of stone,
and give me a heart of flesh,
a heart to love and adore thee,
a heart to delight in thee,
to follow and to enjoy thee,
for Christ’s sake. Amen.
In closing, be blessed by this heartfelt song, The More I Seek You by Jessie Harris.
The more I seek You The more I find You
The more I find You The more I love You
I wanna sit at Your feet
Drink from the cup in
Your hand Lay back against You and breath
Feel Your heartbeat
This love is so deep
It’s more than I can stand
I melt in Your peace, it’s overwhelming
Listen to “The More I Seek You” (Chapel Sessions) on digital music platforms: https://gatewayworship.lnk.to/chapels…
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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