OUR NATION, OUR HOME

Today is our nation's 44th birthday. It has been the grace of God that Singapore has prospered. Since independence in 1965, we have seen how God has blessed our beloved country. We have progressed from third world to first world. Our people are greatly blessed with many good things of life. We give thanks to the Lord for making our nation what we are today.

We also give thanks to the Lord for our government. They do not, however, come to power by their own making. They have been instituted by God as Paul tells us in Romans 13: 1: "Let every person be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God." (ESV). In the book of Daniel 2: 21, we are told that God "removeth the kings, and setteth up kings". God gives good authorities as a blessing, and sometimes, He institutes evil rulers as a means of trial and judgment. Thank God for a good government. We have been blessed indeed. But we need to continue to pray for our government to be honest and righteous, and for wisdom to rule the nation (1 Tim. 2: 1-2).

Freedom of Worship
On this 44th birthday of Singapore, we thank the Lord for freedom of worship. Christianity has flourished since the time of the founding of Singapore in 1819. Dr Bobby Sng wrote in his book "In His Good Time" that "four months after Raffles landed in Singapore, he granted a piece of land to London Missionary Society to commence activity. Five months later, the first missionary arrived. Since then, the church has grown. Today, 14.6% of Singapore's population of four million call themselves Christians."

We should cherish our freedom to worship the Lord and be enthusiastic to share the Gospel. Let us be a good testimony to our non-Christian loved ones and friends and witness to them when we have the opportunity to do so.

Peace and Prosperity
No nation on earth will want to go to war. There are, of course, some crazy authorities (dictators) who would love to engage in wars. Thank God for peace in our nation. Since the 1950's Emergency with the Communist, and the Confrontation with Indonesia (1963-65 when Singapore was part of Malaysia), and the race riots in the '60s, we have been blessed with peace. Terrorism, which poses a real threat to our nation, must be taken seriously. We pray for God's daily protection upon us from harm and danger. We must never take our peace for granted.

During my life I have sung three National Anthems: The first one was "God Save the Queen" (the British National Anthem). The second one was "Negaraku" ("My Country", the Malaysian National Anthem), The third one is our present National Anthem, "Majulah Singapura". Some of our members who are older than I, had to sing a fourth national anthem "Kimigayo" ("May your reign last forever", the Japanese National Anthem in World War II).

Peace is precious. Where there is peace, the nation will progress and prosper. All these years of peace have brought us much blessings. This is the Lord's goodness upon us for which we are grateful. However, in times of plenty and prosperity, let us not forget the Lord. The children of Israel were told to remember God in times of prosperity (Deut. 8: 10-17). "But thou shalt remember the LORD thy God; for it is he who giveth thee power to get wealth…." (Deut. 8: 18). All the more, we must draw closer to Him and love Him.

Singapore, our nation, our home indeed! Pray for the peace of Singapore.

Pastor