Today is the second last day that we'll be in Singapore Polytechnic. I'm gonna miss being able to go home everyday. But at least it means that my expenditure will go down. This couple of weeks have been hard on this army boy's wallet, but generous to his stomach. I'll have my exam tomorrow. Not very anxious about it. I hope I'm not being over-confident about it. Incidently, I did quite well for the first module's exam. I got 81%...

I was thinking about Pastor Erick's sermon. And I see where he is going with his emphasis on reverence towards God. All this time we've been focusing our efforts on worship. True worship, worshipping in Spirit and in Truth. But after awhile, you begin to wonder, why does it seem like we've hit a ceiling? My opinion is that we've forgotten how to revere God. We've become familiar with Him. Much too familiar. And you can't worship a friend if that's all God is to you. Without fear or respect of God, there will not be true worship.

Let me explain further... We come to church dressed inappropriately, as if we were going to the beach or for a picnic. My stand on Sunday dress would be, if you can dress up to meet your friends, you can do at least that much in dressing well to meet God. But thats just my personal opinion. Other problems include coming to service late, slouching in the pews (mentioned by Pastor Erick), we raise our feet, we talk and joke around during sermons, we eat sweets and chew gum, we pass notes, we plan our activities and our lunch, we daydream, we play with our mobile devices. What up with that? The time where the speaker gives a sermon, has become a setting more suited to a lecture hall than the sanctuary. The time for worship has become a time to hear good music so that we can feel good singing it. And if the songs, arrangements, vocals or instrumentation is not perfect, we get distracted and we're unable to worship. No wonder we're STILL waiting for revival! All because our attitude towards Christ is wrong. And I've been guilty of it as well. Youth in general will always push the limits of discipline. If this is what we're doing when our parents were sitting still and paying attention, what will the next batch of youth be doing when they see us behaving this way in the sanctuary. I shudder to think of it.

Dearest Lord Jesus, forgive me for my lack of respect for you. forgive me for not giving you the honor due to you. Lord, I pray that you stir up within me a passion and a reverence for You. Lord, stir it up within me first and foremost, within the youth of XS and within Charis. Lord, I don't want to try to reason this out and pretend that everything is alright. Thank You that You have graciously shown me my mistakes. Lord, may I grow closer to you as I strive to revere You as You deserve. In Jesus' most precious name, Amen.