{"id":3381,"date":"2026-07-10T00:01:17","date_gmt":"2026-07-09T16:01:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lovesingapore.org.sg\/?p=3381"},"modified":"2026-07-10T00:30:13","modified_gmt":"2026-07-09T16:30:13","slug":"2026-day-10-together-for-our-nation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lovesingapore.org.sg\/en\/2026-day-10-together-for-our-nation\/","title":{"rendered":"Day 10: Together for Our Nation"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/p>\n

Jeremiah 29:5-6 <\/cite>\u201cBuild houses and settle down; plant gardens and eat what they produce. Marry and have sons and daughters; find wives for your sons and give your daughters in marriage, so that they too may have sons and daughters. Increase in number there; do not decrease.\u201d<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

How often do you think about yourself as a citizen? Or in the case of many of us, a Singaporean?<\/p>\n

After having had the opportunity to live in a few different parts of the world, I can\u2019t help but recognise just how blessed we are to have been born to this miracle nation.<\/p>\n

I feel like I drew the citizenship lottery \u2013 what a privilege!<\/p>\n

In Acts 17:26, Paul stands in the Athenian Areopagus and declares that God determined the time set for us and the place we should live.<\/p>\n

Our inscrutably Sovereign God, He doesn\u2019t do random, my friends! We were placed here, in this age, in our nation on purpose.<\/p>\n

The privilege comes with responsibilities as well: To steward the beauty that we have inherited.<\/p>\n

Now, if I were to ask you what kind of moral world we lived in, what would you say? A positive world, a neutral world or a negative world?<\/p>\n

I think that those of us who have had the benefit of a few decades would have felt the change.<\/p>\n

The ground is shifting. Common sense has become uncommon. Faith is mocked, moral lines are redrawn, and the public often celebrates what God doesn\u2019t in so many important areas: Marriage, the sacredness of life for the young and the old, the specialness of our God-given bodies and identities, just to name a few.<\/p>\n

Business shapes incentives. Education shapes minds. Media shapes imagination. Policy shapes norms. Family shapes formation.<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

I\u2019m reminded of Judges 21:25 where everyone did what was right in their own eyes.<\/p>\n

Yes, there are problems, but we have a purpose.<\/p>\n

God intends for us to be the salve and solution for the challenges of our generation. To intercede in prayer and to love our neighbours, that His will be done here, for the good of all Singaporeans.<\/p>\n

I think about the Jewish exiles who had some pretty big problems themselves, having been captured by the Babylonians. In Nehemiah\u2019s day, they were allowed by a new empire, Persia, to rebuild the walls of Jerusalem almost 2,500 years ago.<\/p>\n

The Scriptures tell us that one half of the men worked, while the other half stood guard with spears, shields and bows. Even the builders worked with one hand on the task and the other gripping a weapon because of the imminent threats they faced. (Nehemiah 4:16-17)<\/p>\n

They are <\/span>an antidote to the cultural decay of our time.<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Nehemiah assigned families and groups to repair the sections of the wall that were directly opposite their own houses \u2013 why? Because when a man is building the wall that protects his own wife and children, he does the best that he can.<\/p>\n

Other groups rebuilt the 10 gates of Jerusalem that facilitated the daily life and functioning of the city.<\/p>\n

We\u2019re not that different, you know.<\/p>\n

Regardless of where God has called you to work, you have a role in rebuilding with the trowel and guarding with the sword.<\/p>\n

Whether your function is \u201cprotective\u201d, to guard what is valuable and true, or \u201cvocational\u201d by building the gates of city life, you have a God-ordained purpose for this land.<\/p>\n

Business shapes incentives. Education shapes minds. Media shapes imagination. Policy shapes norms. Family shapes formation. The church cannot withdraw from any of these. We must be involved in civic life.<\/p>\n

Even before Nehemiah\u2019s day, in the hardest, most contested and fractious of times, when Israel was enslaved by Babylon, the Word of the Lord was to engage, and not detach.<\/p>\n

In Jeremiah 29:5-7, God instructs, \u201cBuild houses and settle down; plant gardens and eat what they produce. Marry and have sons and daughters; find wives for your sons and give your daughters in marriage, so that they too may have sons and daughters. Increase in number there; do not decrease. Also, seek the peace and prosperity of the city to which I have carried you into exile. Pray to the Lord for it, because if it prospers, you too will prosper.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

God has placed us here \u2013 together, for Singapore. Build what is good. Protect what is true.<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

We pray for Singapore. We work for Singapore. We love our neighbour in concrete ways. We must refuse compromise where God has spoken.<\/p>\n

And our witness isn\u2019t about rules and laws for their own sake. God\u2019s ways are good precisely because they\u2019re good for us, for all of us, believers and pre-believers alike! They are an antidote to the cultural decay of our time.<\/p>\n

Beauty is attractive, and when our neighbour sees what flourishing looks like in our lives, the fragrance of Christ will do its work. When we shine for Christ, we point people to Him. Courageous Christians in a darkening and confused culture can show forth a better way. We have the answers. With Christ, we can turn Singapore Godward.<\/p>\n

God has placed us here \u2013 together, for Singapore. Build what is good. Protect what is true. Give of yourself \u2013 sacrificially \u2013 for something bigger than yourself. And when we do that, the city will be better because we were in it.<\/p>\n

Let\u2019s pray together.<\/p>\n

Lord, I thank You Lord for the privilege of being placed in this land.<\/em><\/p>\n

We ask: Have mercy on us, Lord. We ask for Your grace to cover our nation and for Your Spirit to lead us. Help us to be a true Bride in this city, one who knows the rhythms of Your heart and the purposes of Your will.<\/em><\/p>\n

In Jesus\u2019 name we pray, Amen.<\/em><\/p>\n

<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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