One of the good things about taking a break is that you have more time to strengthen your spiritual walk with God. Like I always share with the cell, satisfying your spiritual hunger is akin to the feeling you get after having a salad (light and healthy; don't know how to capture it adequately but you get the sense that there's more oxygen in you). Compared to eating fast food, the latter makes you feel oily and bloated in an unhealthy way (I'm sure you experience this feeling before!)

Thus, to make you feel "light and healthy" today, I would like to share with you an excerpt from one of my devotional readings:

Many Christians are out of bondage and are no longer under Satan's reign, yet they are not experiencing the full liberty of Christ. It is common for Christians to embark on the spiritual journey with great expectations. But when the going gets tough, they become halfhearted, taking half measures and going half the way, instead of going all the way.


That's the story of Terah's (Abraham's father) life. His family could not progress in their spiritual experience until he died. Then Abraham picked up where his father left off and this time, he went all the way. . . Many Christians would have experienced God's fullness if they are disciplined enough to go further, plunge deeper and soar higher. No matter how weary we are, we should practice the principle of just one more - just one more try, just one more push, just one more practice - then we would have developed the habit of going all the way. . .

Remember the Semitic line? It's a royal one through which Jesus Christ would be born. God had to step in and intervene because He doesn't do things halfway. So Isaac was born.


Then Isaac's wife Rebecca was barren. If God had stopped there, then the Messiah would not have been born. But God doesn't do things halfway, so He intervened. Jacob was born, and it was through his line that Jesus would be born.

Indeed, God went all the way. . .


When the people wanted to make Jesus King, He could have been sidetracked by them. But He said  "no" to the tempting offer in order to go all the way to fulfill the Father's plan for Him. . .


There was a great temptation not to face the Cross. But because He intended to go all the way, He finally submitted and prayed, "Nonetheless, not My will, but Thine, be done."


With that, Jesus steeled His soul, set His face like a flint toward Mount Calvary and went all the way for your sake and mine.


All of us are going through the ups and downs of life. There are times we feel like giving up halfway. But let us not forget that Jesus had gone all the way for us so that we, too, will be empowered to go all the way despite the storms of life and all the obstacles along the way.

I find this very encouraging, firstly because I didn't expect that we can derive so much just from the genealogies (family tree) of Jesus Christ and also because, Jesus is the perfect example of perseverance and love. He endured trials and temptations just to save us from being separated from God. Such is the extent of His love :)