by Rev Daniel Yaw

By Rev Daniel Yaw

"Therefore, let us leave the elementary doctrine of Christ and go on to maturity."  (verse 1)
Having served the Lord for so many years, it is so easy to relax and pat our hands on our shoulders and say, “Not bad after all these years.” Is that quite enough?  I fell with the apostle Paul who said, “But I discipline my body and keep it under control, lest after preaching to others I should be disqualified.” 
We live each day by the grace of God.  The greatest assurance we have is the presence of God that is promised to His beloved.  However, lest we take for granted his grace and become presumptuous, there is a warning of the possibility of falling away.

Falling Away

There is much debate over Calvin's doctrine of salvation.  As I looked at the verse above, it is not a cause for argument really but a sober awakening.  While the words are serious and heavy, "For it is impossible, in the case of those who have once been enlightened, who have tasted the heavenly gift, and have shared in the Holy Spirit, and have tasted the goodness of the word of God... and then have fallen away, to restore them to repentance".
This is indeed something sobering in that even the apostle Paul speaks about being careful lest after all his preaching, he should be disqualified.  It is a call not to take the grace of God for granted.  
It is a reminder of the "great salvation" we have in Christ and we should not be throwing it away and falling away.
As I penned these words, it is not to frighten us but only to sober us.  We must observe how we walk.  One of those sobering thoughts is that we must guard from falling away – either deliberately or even drifting away.

Faithfully Advancing

The flip side is really about being faithful to God.  The writer tells us to "leave the elementary and go on to maturity".  It means we continue faithfully in our walk.  A faithful walk is always a progressive and advancing walk toward maturity.  God plans that we will all become like him from glory to glory.  Therefore, we must be faithful in our call, in our walk, and in our service.  While it sounded like a warning, this verse is an assurance that as long as we are faithful, we have nothing to fear about losing our salvation.
The message by the writer is that we must remain faithful and not idle our lives away.  No matter how old we are, how long we have served, or how big an achievement we have obtained, we must always be found faithful in our walk and our service.

Conclusion

How are you and I faring today?  We are not talking about yesterday but today.  As I thought of this, I thought of our camp once again – the theme being, “Living a life worthy of God.”, I pray that we will indeed be found faithful to walk a life worthy of the calling by which we have been called.

May I offer this prayer and make this prayer yours today?

Lord Jesus, thank you for the reminder of such great and gracious salvation that I have that I am now a child of God.  May my desire is always to be thankful and a determination to be faithful to you.  Enable me by your Holy Spirit to stick faithfully to you.  In Jesus' name, Amen.

By Rev.Daniel Yaw

Introduction

We have heard many sayings that we are living in the end of end times.  The signs are simply too clear to ignore that the return of Christ is imminent.  Yes, indeed like a thief in the night and the night is coming soon.
Are we ready to face the challenges of life today in the light of glorifying our Lord?
Daniel 2:10, 13
“There is not a man on earth who can meet the king’s demand, for no great and powerful king has asked such a thing of any magician or enchanter or Chaldean…. So, the decree went out, and the wise men were about to be killed, and they sought Daniel and his companions, to kill them.”
In chapter 1, the note ended with Daniel and his companions being bestowed with God’s blessing, specifying that Daniel has the ability to see and understand visions and dreams.  It has set the stage already that God is going to do something great in him.

A Ridiculous Situation

We can see how ridiculous a demand the king made on his subjects.  He had a disturbing dream and demanded that the wise men of his courts to firstly reveal the dream that he had and also to explain what the dream meant.  When we read of this account, we too will shake our heads and wondered what this king was thinking.  He has indeed gone bonkers.  How could anyone survive this situation?  It would only mean that the whole council of wise men in his court will be executed.
How then can Daniel survive this?  How would Daniel’s faith stand out?
There is the urgency of time today.  The call of our God is two-fold – to live a godly life that is worthy of His calling and to bring others to Christ.  There has never been a greater urgency that this before.  As a pastor, the challenge is to see a revival of our hearts.  When others are dropping out of their faith or losing interest in the things of God, it is of concern.
How are we going to survive this situation today?   For some it is not going to be easy as we struggle with the changes in life.  The fast pace of life, the distractions in life, the trials that come along are the many challenges today.

A Ready Spirit

The respond of Daniel is one that is willing to trust God.  It says in verse 16, “And Daniel went in and requested the king to appoint him a time, that he might show the interpretation to the king.”
His was a readiness of spirit to trust God.  When he made that request, I wondered if he had already known the dream and its interpretation.  I am sure he had not but his faith in God stood out.  He knew that God has a purpose in giving him the gift of visions and understanding.
He was ready to face “ridiculous” time with faith and courage in God.  He submitted himself to God and embraced the situation he was put into.
I know that it is difficult to be in Daniel’s position but are we ready to face such similar situations?  The church of God has always been challenged to face such situation from the very beginning in the book of Acts.  Persecutions, being ostracised by family and society was something they have learned to embrace and trust God.
 
Conclusion

What is my challenge?  What is yours?  Are we willing to put our trust in God and be ready in His service?  Remember what the Lord put in our hearts in the beginning of the year – to consecrate our lives for Him and then to realize that we are commissioned to the world.