By Rev. Daniel
 
Introduction
We have entered 2021 with mixed feelings.  We have hope that things would be better but lately it has not been encouraging at all.  The figure for COVID cases in Malaysia is on the rise which is alarming.
 
Even Church meeting has reverted back to online services when the authority proclaimed another MCO – now called MCO 2.0. 
 
We are faced with many more inconveniences. Even as I write this, I am currently in Singapore serving the mandatory 14 days quarantine. There were many procedures to complete locally as well for Singapore even before I could arrive here. 
 
Then I was reading the devotion of the day in the hotel room where “Our Daily Bread” entitle the reading “Running to tell” from Matthew 28:1-10.  I thought then about our Christian life and walk today – is it liken to the women at the tomb of Jesus on Easter morning?
 
Excited or Exhausted? 
Of course, we knew that the women were excited about the revelation of Christ’s resurrection and with the news they had and the instruction to go back to tell the disciples, they “hurried away from the tomb afraid yet filled with joy and RAN to tell his disciples.”
 
Two words were used in the same sentence to express the same thing – hurried away and ran to tell”.  They expressed two things namely;
1.        Urgency
2.        Excitement
 
I thought for a moment about our lives today.  We are constantly running errands – of our spouses, of our parents, of our teachers, of our bosses, etc.  The question is this – “Am I running or am I dragging my feet?”
 
Let us pause now and .......... answer that question.
 
I must confessed there were times more than I can count that I actually drag my feet.  Even in my service – and may pat myself on my shoulder and say, “It is ok, you are just being tired and exhausted.”
The words are true, but it is really okay?
 
Pause again………. let us try to answer.
 
Maybe that is what is happening in our lives – we are losing the urgency and the excitement of the womenfolk in the passage.  What has caused the loss of this excitement?  IN fact, it is even stated that “[they were] afraid, yet filled with joy…”
 
Life can be scary sometimes, service for God can be intimidating when others are judging.  Walking with God can be discouraging when others ridicule us for our faith – but would that stop us from running and telling?
 
Refocusing
I was sharing on our church new theme – “Refreshing our faith – Remembering, Removing and Refocusing.”  The women were excited and their fear was overcome by the fact that their Lord had overcome all things – death and sin in particular. 
 
They were excited and felt the urgency because they were looking at Jesus.  We all need to REFOCUS on the words of God and His work.  Then we will sense the urgency and the excitement, despite the fear and the routine of life.
 
Let us hold our hands together in supporting one another as we walk our journey of faith.  Let us help one another to refocus repeatedly onto the Lord as we serve Him, as we stand faithfully with Him and as we obey His commands to make known what He has done for sinners like us.
 
CONCLUSION
Let us not forget – we all need a refreshing of our faith and refocusing is one of those powerful motivation so that we will run and not drag our feet.