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In the Bible, three common subjects emerge from Jesus’ public ministry. The first is associated with Christ’s teaching movement, where He imparted knowledge about the Kingdom of God to those interested in entering God’s Prepared Placed called Heaven. Jesus employed various familiar illustrations to convey this divine destination to His audience. The second topic is linked to Christ’s preaching activity, delivering the Word of God to those seeking righteousness before the Lord. Jesus used the Holy Scripture not only as a “teaching” tool but also as a means for “rebuking, correcting and training” (2 Timothy 3:16) His listeners. The third theme is connected with Christ’s healing task, where He restored those who were broken physically and spiritually wherever he went. Jesus applied God’s supernatural power to the sick, helping them fully recover. All these aspects lead us as Christ’s followers to focus on teaching, preaching, and healing tasks. Consequently, when Christianity is introduced into a new territory, three main projects emerge, contributing to the establishment of not only churches but also schools and hospitals. Both Catholic and Protestant churches have influenced religious institutions, educational systems, and healthcare.

Some individuals have shared that reciting the Lord’s Prayer was a common part of their school days. However, due to the influence of the separation of state and religion, along with the respect for diverse cultures in Canada, this divine practice has diminished in many public areas. It is essential to understand and respect the “principle of religious neutrality.” I am only emphasizing the importance of sharing sacred Christian symbols, whether at school, work, or home. Consider the education of our children and grandchildren in secular teachings. While public educational approaches are not based on religious beliefs, it is crucial for us to acknowledge the importance of sacred education on fundamental questions such as the existence of God, the purpose of life in Christ Jesus, and the destination of one’s journey in the Holy Spirit. Students spend a considerable amount of time in secular teaching systems, and they may not be exposed to sacred-founded learning methods. Therefore, it is crucial to pray about Sunday school, Vacation Bible School, Youth and Campus ministry, in addition to sharing the Word of God and His love at home. Like many of you, I cherish the lessons learned at Sunday school and Vacation Bible School. Despite wandering from the Lord for a time, the Word planted in my heart during my teenage years constantly reminded me of my identity before the Lord and guided me back to live as a child of God.

We are currently in the new sermon series “The Unshakable,” based on the book of Daniel in the Old Testament. In this series, we delve into the experiences of Daniel and his three friends who were brought to Babylon as captivates, along with many royal and noble people of Israel. The sacred text describes them as “young men without any physical defect, handsome, showing aptitude for every kind of learning, well informed, quick to understand, and qualified to serve in the king’s palace” (Daniel 1:4). They were given the opportunity to “learn the language and literature of the Babylonians” (Daniel 1:4) for three years and were privileged to serve as leaders in Babylon afterward. Following their intensive training, King Nebuchadnezzar observed that Daniel and his friends were “ten times better than all the magicians and enchanters” in the entire kingdom (Daniel 1: 20). Daniel was later appointed to use his visionary thoughts and insights for three Babylonian emperors. Despite having received an education similar to that of other magicians and enchanters, Daniel and his friends excelled. This encourages us to explore the reasons for their success in education and apply these lessons to our faith journey.

Firstly, we need to decide in advance to stand up for the Lord. In today’s Proverbs, fearing the Lord is stated as “the beginning of wisdom” (Proverbs 1:7). King Solomon, considered the wisest in his days, wrote this scripture. When God is prioritized, divine wisdom guides decisions between right and wrong. Fearing does not involve frightful thoughts of God’s existence as God is love and just. To live this godly life in our faith journey, we need to continuously revere God and work out our “salvation with fear and trembling” based on the Word of God (Philippians 2:13). Daniel and his friends set a good example of this. Before entering a Babylonian school, they made up their mind ahead of time that they would stand for God. One decision they made was not to defile themselves with the king’s choice food. That was part of Babylonian education and would be a privilege to be well-fed with daily royal provision. However, Daniel and his friends wanted to monitor what they observed daily with the Holy Bible. They discerned that those king’s food items were associated with idol worship.

Please understand that in those days, Babylonians had excellent educational curriculums. Popular mathematic methods, such as “60 seconds in a minute,” “60 minutes in an hour,” and “360 degrees in a circle,” originated from the Babylonian numeral system. While Daniel and his friends were educated in this prominent learning institution, they feared the Lord and shunned evil during their education. These four young individuals excelled ten times more than the servants of King Nebuchadnezzar when they placed God as the primary focus in their education and discerned what they had heard and seen from their learning based on the Word of God.

Education is crucial for us to lead better lives. Simultaneously, acquiring wrong and evil knowledge would destroy our pure spirits and cause us to become unrighteous. That is why it is important to have the ability, provided by the Word, to rightly apply what we are learning in our daily lives. It is also critical to start with God and decide to learn, receive, or hear “whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable – if anything is excellent or praiseworthy think about such things” (Philippians 4:8-9). This is one of the sacred learning attitudes in everyday life.

Secondly, we need to continue studying. In other words, we never stop learning. In our Epistle for today, the Apostle Paul highlighted the importance of continuing education. He exemplified himself by continuously doing his best in this ongoing learning. Even though he achieved numerous milestones, he pressed on toward resembling Christ’s characteristics in his faith journey. He dedicated himself to present as an approved servant to God, one who “did not need to be ashamed and who rightly handled the word of truth” (2 Timothy 2:15). His passionate attitude toward studying made him the most wonderful biblical scholar in the Bible. When we read his letters sent to various believers in the early church period, we can be amazed to find his significant insights and knowledge on God’s spiritual realm and His deep and wide love for His creation. God wants us to have a similar learning attitude as Paul did.

Do we have a desire to learn? What new things do we want to learn this year? Someone said something like this: “Once I stop learning, I start dying.” If we want to succeed in life, we cannot say, “My education ended when I graduated.” We need to be lifelong learners. Growing organizations require growing leaders. Growing workplaces require growing employees. We are to constantly learn because our society is always changing. When was the last time we read an entire book? When I was in school, I had to read books almost every week, whether I liked them or not. It made me learn something new and helped me to grow. After I got out of school, however, I found that it would not be easy for me to read whole books regularly. Again, when we stop learning, we may stop growing. We are never too old to learn something new. We need to desire where we would like to learn and want to be trained. Have we also thought about spiritual growth? Every day God wants each of us to grow in our spiritual maturity and insight. The upcoming season of spring is a time for growth. What are the new skills we want to learn in the coming days? What are the areas we want to grow as Christians? One crucial principle of growth is that we grow when we commit to grow. We must choose to grow – growth is not automatic. We must choose to make the effort and time. Today, God is asking each of us to make a commitment to physical, emotional, and spiritual growth. God wants to give us the best of our lives when we choose to grow and are committed to our personal development.

Thirdly, we need to immerse ourselves in God’s Word. It is like placing a teabag in hot water for a while. We don’t take it out of the cup immediately. Instead, we let the teabag soak in the water, allowing it to be absorbed so we can later taste the flavor and aroma of the tea. In our Old Testament reading for today, we find this godly method in God’s remarks on Joshua’s leadership over the people of Israel. Moses had led them out of Egypt to the near Promised Land called Canaan. Before they were about to enter that land, Moses, the great leader, was gone. At that time, God wanted Joshua to take over his duties and lead the people of Israel into the blessed land. During these unprecedented times, Joshua would have been overwhelmed by his God-given tasks. God encouraged Joshua to “be strong and very courageous” three times (Joshua 1:6,7,9). God also promised him to “be prosperous and successful” when he kept doing what God commanded him to do. The instructions God gave Joshua as a warrior were unusual. God did not instruct Joshua to prepare proper battle equipment, train his soldiers well, plan smart fighting strategies, build strong fortresses, and so on. What is God’s manual for Joshua who is about to fight? The Lord said to him, “Be careful to obey all the law my servant Moses gave you; do not turn from it to the right or to the left… Keep this Book of the Law always on your lips; meditate on it day and night…” (Joshua 1:7-8). When we read the rest of the book of Joshua, we see that God keeps giving him spiritual guidance instead of war plans. When Joshua followed this divine direction, he succeeded in conquering the land. Furthermore, he knew that the war/battle belonged to the Mighty God (2 Chronicles 20:15).

Our spiritual enemy, Satan, uses his favourite three tools, “noise, crowds, and hurry,” to keep us from spending time in the Word of God. When we, as soldiers of Christ, prioritize God’s Word and obey Him wholeheartedly, He will make us abundantly prosperous in everything that we do (Deuteronomy 30:9) and help us accomplish our God-given dreams in His time and in His way.

I have shared before the difference between meditating and worrying. Pastor Warren said something like this: “Meditation can be defined as thinking about God’s word over and over in our minds and worrying as thinking of a certain problem over and over.” Please understand that I am not saying today that we need to downplay or ignore what we are facing today. God wants us to look at everything with His Word, in other words, His perspective. Whatever circumstances we have been surrounded by, we need to include God in our evaluations on each of those cases. This spiritual discipline needs to be practiced every day through our devotion to God’s Word and our conversation with Him.

We, as Christ’s followers as well as Christ’s soldiers to battle against the spirit of evil, whether we realize it or not, we are supposed to chew on the Word of God every moment. Let us ask ourselves these questions: Do we meditate on how mighty the Lord our God is? Or do we give in worrying about how big the challenges that we have faced are? Even if our obstacles are huge, there is nothing impossible for the Creator God to do for us. As we approach the significant Christian holiday of Easter, it is once again an opportune time for us to mature spiritually by spending time with God through His Word and prayer. I often turn to the Book of Proverbs when seeking God’s wisdom. With its thirty-one chapters, we can complete it in a month by reflecting on a chapter each day. Until Maundy Thursday, over the next thirty-one days, we can explore this profound wisdom literature. This intentional practice will allow us to express gratitude to God for the insights gained from the Holy Scripture on Easter Sunday.

During today’s sermon reflection, I am reminded of some recurring pairs of opposing words found in the Bible: “life and death, God’s blessings and curses, God’s judgment and reward, and God’s condemnation and salvation.” Like the wise and foolish builders in Christ’s illustration, the outcomes differ when storms assail those who build their spiritual houses. Those with foundations on sand will experience a great crash, while those who establish their cornerstone on the Rock, Jesus Christ, will stand firm before the Lord, protected even in the midst of storms and judgment (Matthew 7:24-27).

Once again, as we consider the journeys of today’s characters – Daniel, Joshua, King Solomon, and the Apostle Paul – we observe their consistent acknowledgment that the source of their blessings, happiness, and strength is the Lord, their Shepherd, and the Maker of Heaven and Earth. They teach us valuable lessons on how to excel in life by fearing the Lord, engaging in ongoing education, and meditating on the Word of God every moment. When we keep these divine principles, God will enable us to surpass others in our faith journey and move forward with strength and courage in the direction He has shown us, even in challenging territories. Amen.

*In this sermon, I have incorporated thoughts from various messages inspired by the texts from Joshua 1:1-9; Proverbs 1:1-7; 2 Timothy 2:14-19, as well as the Unshakable sermon series prepared by Rick Warren.