About Me
A Changed Life
We do not have much information about Matthew even though he is the author of the first and the longest Gospel in the New Testament. We first meet Matthew in Capernaum, in his tax booth on the main highway (Matthew 9:9) collecting taxes. Tax collectors were notoriously corrupt because they extorted far and above what was owed, to ensure their personal profit. Because they were working on behalf of the Roman government, no one dared complain about their deeds. Matthew was named Levi (Mark 2:14) before being called by Jesus. We don't know whether Jesus gave him the name Matthew or whether he changed it himself. It is a shortened of the name Mattathias, which means "gift of Yahweh," or simply "the gift of God."
Matthew displayed one of the most...
Chief Lesson from the book of Proverbs
My sister in law and her husband celebrated their fortieth wedding anniversary recently. In the thanksgiving meeting, the invitees were asked to tell one thing about each of them that had touched their heart or something they had learned from their life. One person had this to say about her husband which made a lot of sense to me. It seems this friend asked him about the advice he had given his daughter when she was going away to BITS, Pilani. The advice given by the father to his daughter was: ‘Always fear to commit sin. Do not fear anything else'. What a remarkable advice! Not only to a seventeen-year-old, I believe, it is sound advice to all of us across all age groups!
The three wisdom books of the Old Testament, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, and Job offer thre...
Rest for our souls!
Long ago when bus services had been just introduced, it seems a farmer got into a bus carrying a sack of some vegetables from the field. Even after getting a seat on the bus, he refused to put his burden down saying that he had bought the ticket only for himself! When we hear the story, it may sound silly and stupid, but we also do the exact same thing! We carry our burdens to the Cross but instead of leaving them there, we carry them back with us! Our burdens are not just our sins alone. Our burdens include our situations, our trials, our troubling memories and our problems too.
Jesus says in Matthew 11:28," Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest". Jesus then explains how we can find His rest. Jesus advises...
Remember Me!
The Bible has lots to say about both remembering and forgetting! It sounds like a paradox at the outset but both are very important for the human mind. There are many things that have to be forgotten by us just so we can exist! If we remember every hurt, every insult, and every betrayal we have suffered through the years, then we cannot even live! It will completely destroy us. You don’t need a psychiatrist to tell you that! Whereas, when we remember the good we have received from the people around us, it promotes a healthy mind, healthy body, and many healthy relationships. But the human mind is really a strange thing: it forgets all the good things in our life and remembers only the bad experiences!
The Israelites on their way to the promised land, when they face...
In His Time!
Last month when we visited a jeweler's shop to poke the ears of our second granddaughter, I used the opportunity to mend a small piece of jewelry. After mending it, when I mentioned that I needed an ‘S' hook instead of the ‘U' hook that was already there, the jeweler offered to help. All he did was take the ‘U' hook and heat it with the blow torch. When it was really hot, he fashioned it into an ‘S' hook with great ease! It was really beautiful to watch him in action! As the gold was heated, it was very pliant in his hand. It did not give any resistance. So, instead of getting broken, it was shaped into a form that became useful! A refiner's fire not only cleanses us but it also molds us!
God allows some troubles in our life. It i...
Job’s Complaint
The book of Job is the oldest book in the Bible. It records some troubling questions and terrifying doubts. Job practically lost everything almost overnight. The common thinking about suffering is that a person’s suffering is always the result of his or her personal sin. So, the more one has sinned, the greater he or she is expected to suffer. If we base Job’s suffering upon this thought, then Job must have sinned gravely! But we see God Himself testifying about him saying, “there is none like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man, one who fears God and shuns evil”(Job 1:8).
While we go through trials and times of suffering, when we walk through the valley of tears, we are often overwhelmed by self-pity! It makes us question the very purpose of our...
Faith and Works
Karma is a key concept in Hinduism, Buddhism, and Jainism. Karma means action, works or deed. Good intent and good deeds contribute to good karma and future happiness, while bad intent and bad deeds contribute to bad karma and future suffering. Karma is a Sanskrit term that literally means ‘action' or ‘works'. In a way, karma is everything in a person's life!
On the other hand, the Bible understands the frailty of Man and how no man's intent or action can be ‘pure' in the way God, in His holiness, expects. We can do nothing- no works or karma- can ever make us holy and acceptable to God. That is why Christ became the ultimate sacrifice and paid the penalty for our sins on the cross. By accepting Jesus' sacrifice on our behalf, we are...
Imitate me…
I read this story long ago in ‘Our Daily Bread’. It seems a father after finishing the bedtime rituals for his son, thinking he had fallen asleep had made his way to the local pub to share a drink with his buddies. Suddenly he was startled by his son’s voice calling him ‘Dad’. The man was shocked to see his son and demanded to know how the son had found out his whereabouts. The son’s reply shook him up. The son said, ‘Dad when I suddenly woke up called out to you, there was no answer. Soon I found out that you were not at home. So, I opened the front door where I saw your footsteps clearly in the snow. I just followed them and they brought me here!’
When I was in the College of Engineering, Guindy studying Engineering, I did not take my studies too seriously. As...
Micah’s Message
The book of Micah centers on the threat of the Assyrian invasions that began in around 730 BC against the northern kingdom. The people who thought that they cannot be touched because they were the chosen people of God, were disheartened. They turned to the Lord and kind of blaming Him for their miseries! Micah pictures a court of law (Chapter 6), with Israel "on trial" before the Lord in the presence of unshakable witnesses, the mountains and the hills and the strong foundations of the earth.
In the subsequent verses, we see God stating His case. God brings to their mind how He had redeemed them from Egypt. Not only did God not do evil to Israel, but He also did them an enormous amount of good. He redeemed them and gave them godly leaders. Even when Ki...
Master the Tempest is raging…
My father was transferred from Neyveli and we came to Chennai in April 1971. At that time, choirmaster uncle Arthur Muthiah used to have the choir practices in his home in Shenoy Nagar. One of the first songs we sang there was the song "Master, the tempest is raging! The billows are tossing high!" written by Mary A. Baker. It really spoke to our hearts and encouraged us! Many times, our calm and peaceful existence is thrown out of gear by some news. It can be a call from the doctor's office, loss of a loved one or even loss of a job can throw us into a raging storm!
We read about this incident in Mark 4: 37-39. We see that it was Jesus who said, "Let us cross over to the other side." Their journey was initiated by the Lord Himself...