Voice: Li Huan
Today is Wednesday, 1st of July. Welcome to the start of the second half of this year! We start by praying the Collect for Purity:
Almighty God,
to whom all hearts are open,
all desires known,
and from whom no secrets are hidden:
cleanse the thoughts of our hearts
by the inspiration of your Holy Spirit,
that we may perfectly love you,
and worthily magnify your holy name;
through Christ our Lord. Amen.
Psalm 119:105-114
105 Your word is a lamp to my feet
and a light to my path.106I have sworn an oath and confirmed it,
to keep your righteous rules.107I am severely afflicted;
give me life, O Lord , according to your word!108Accept my freewill offerings of praise, O Lord ,
and teach me your rules.109I hold my life in my hand continually,
but I do not forget your law.110The wicked have laid a snare for me,
but I do not stray from your precepts.111Your testimonies are my heritage forever,
for they are the joy of my heart.112I incline my heart to perform your statutes
forever, to the end.113I hate the double-minded,
but I love your law.114You are my hiding place and my shield;
I hope in your word.
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.
Luke 18:18-30
18And a ruler asked him, “Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?”
19And Jesus said to him, “Why do you call me good? No one is good except God alone.
20You know the commandments: ‘Do not commit adultery, Do not murder, Do not steal, Do not bear false witness, Honor your father and mother.’”
21And he said, “All these I have kept from my youth.”
22When Jesus heard this, he said to him, “One thing you still lack. Sell all that you have and distribute to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me.”
23But when he heard these things, he became very sad, for he was extremely rich.
24Jesus, seeing that he had become sad, said, “How difficult it is for those who have wealth to enter the kingdom of God!
25For it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God.”
26Those who heard it said, “Then who can be saved?”
27But he said, “What is impossible with man is possible with God.”
28And Peter said, “See, we have left our homes and followed you.”
29And he said to them, “Truly, I say to you, there is no one who has left house or wife or brothers or parents or children, for the sake of the kingdom of God,
30who will not receive many times more in this time, and in the age to come eternal life.”
This is the Word of the Lord
Thanks be to God
Just One Thing
The rich ruler was not a bad man.
He was respectable, moral, sincere and religious. He addressed Jesus respectfully as “Good Teacher.” He knew the commandments and could honestly say, “All these I have kept from my youth.”
Many of us would gladly welcome someone like him into our church.
Yet Jesus looked beyond the man’s outward obedience and put His finger on the one area of his life that truly mattered.
“One thing you still lack.”
Just one thing.
It was not that Jesus required every disciple to sell all their possessions. The issue was not wealth itself, but what wealth had become. His riches had quietly occupied the place that belonged to God alone. His possessions possessed him.
Jesus exposed the idol of his heart.
The saddest sentence in this passage is not that the man was rich. It is that “he became very sad.” He came to Jesus seeking eternal life but walked away because he could not part with the one thing that stood between him and God.
Many of us can identify with this man.
Our “one thing” may not be money. It may be our career, reputation, ambitions, comfort, relationships or even our ministry. It can be anything which takes the place of God.
As St Augustine of Hippo said in his Confessions:
“He loves Thee too little who loves anything together with Thee, which he loves not for Thy sake.”
Jesus do not delight in our deprivation. He asks us to surrender what competes for our hearts so that we may receive something infinitely greater. “You will have treasure in heaven… and come, follow me.”
The disciples then wondered, “Who then can be saved?”
Jesus’ answer remains one of the greatest statements of hope in the Gospels: “What is impossible with man is possible with God.”
None of us can save ourselves—not the proud Pharisee, not the broken tax collector (see yesterday’s devotion), not even the moral rich ruler. Salvation is God’s work from beginning to end.
The question this passage leaves us with is deeply personal.
If Jesus were to look lovingly into your heart today, what is the “one thing” He would ask you to surrender?
Whatever it is, He always gives far more than He ever asks us to let go.
We pray the Collect for today:
O God, the protector of all who trust in you,
without whom nothing is strong, nothing is holy:
increase and multiply upon us your mercy;
that with you as our ruler and guide we may so pass through things temporal
that we lose not our hold on things eternal;
grant this, heavenly Father, for our Lord Jesus Christ’s sake,
who is alive and reigns with you,
in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.
We end with song written and sung by Earnest and Ming Li. You can visit this link for the background of this beautiful song.
LAY DOWN
Every song I can sing
Every gift I can bring
They count for nothing if I don’t lay me down
Lay down, lay down
My life I lay down
Lay down, my life I lay down
Every charity known
Every piety shown
I offer nothing if I don’t lay me down
Lay down, lay down
My life I lay down
Lay down, my life I lay down
Let the beauty of worship
And resonant praise
Be unto Jesus for whom I lay down
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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