Missing The Point Have you ever missed the point? I have. I missed the point when I did not understand my bosses fully. I went ahead and did what I think they wanted. After many hours of hard work. After all the work is completed. When you receive all the yelling and shouting. It is only then that you realize that you had missed the point. What you had done is not what your boss had in mind. I missed the point when in exams I don't read the questions carefully. After all that particular question was something that I had spotted. I knew the teacher was going to ask that. Only trouble is that what he asked is not exactly what I thought. It was only when I received the papers back that I realized that I had missed the point. Have you ever missed the point? I had. The apostle Peter had as well. Turn with me to.. MT 16:21 From that time on Jesus began to explain to his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things at the hands of the elders, chief priests and teachers of the law, and that he must be killed and on the third day be raised to life. MT 16:22 Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. "Never, Lord!" he said. "This shall never happen to you!" MT 16:23 Jesus turned and said to Peter, "Get behind me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to me; you do not have in mind the things of God, but the things of men." MT 16:24 Then Jesus said to his disciples, "If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. 25 For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will find it. 26 What good will it be for a man if he gains the whole world, yet forfeits his soul? Or what can a man give in exchange for his soul? 27 For the Son of Man is going to come in his Father's glory with his angels, and then he will reward each person according to what he has done. 28 I tell you the truth, some who are standing here will not taste death before they see the Son of Man coming in his kingdom Peter was complimented after acknowledging that Jesus is the Messiah. The Son of the Living God. His name was changed from Simon to Peter- the rock. The compliment was however short lived. Immediately after, Peter was scolded and told that he was a stumbling block. If Peter was a rock, he was one that will cause people to stumble. Use our sanctified imagination, and imagine what took place. When Jesus began to share that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer and be killed by the Jewish leaders Peter began to protest. Peter may say "choy choy choy -why you say like that". Death is not what normal people want to talk about. He went on rumbling. Jesus had to say "Peter, Peter, Peter, Peter…, you know me. You know me well enough to say that I am the Messiah. But Peter you don't know me enough to know the point of why I came to earth. You don't really understand the ministry of the Messiah. You don't really understand me enough. You have missed the point, Peter. You continue this way, you will be a stumbling block to my ministry and the purpose of God." In everything that we undertake if we miss the point we miss everything. Peter missed the point. When Jesus began to talk about his dying, like any good friend, Peter began to protest. But Peter missed the point. He probably wanted Jesus to amass a mighty army that would get rid of Rome from their country. Peter missed the point when he did not understand that victory would be through the death of the Messiah. Peter missed the point when he did not understand the Kingdom of God. Peter missed the point when his agenda became more important than God's agenda. We too may miss the point when we do not understand our salvation. We may miss the point when we do not understand why God has saved us. We may miss the point when our agenda becomes more important than God's agenda. Today, let us see in what areas of our lives we may miss the point. In our relationship with God what are the possible areas where we may misunderstand God's purpose. Let us also see what we must do so that we would not miss the point . What we should do so that we do not miss the point on God's purpose for our lives. We will miss the point if we think life is about us. It is not. Life is about God. We have not been created for us. We have been created for God. We can indeed accumulate everything on this earth, win the whole world, yet lose our soul and miss it all. So, we will miss the point if we think life is about us. We have been created to worship God and to live for His purpose - not ours. We may plan for our own lives but it is always God's will that will prevail. We will miss the point if we continue to fight against what God desires for our lives. God wanted Jonah to go to Nineveh. Jonah went the other direction and ended up in the belly of a big fish. I studied engineering. I thought that I would be a good engineer. So I not only did my bachelors in engineering but my masters as well. I started work with Rollei Singapore but it did not last more than three years. I found that I did not like the factory environment. So I switched to work in management with Singapore Airlines. It was in SIA that I became a Christian. It was in SIA that I felt the call of God to enter into fulltime ministry. But I was reluctant to do so. I was enjoying myself too much - with free first class travel not only for myself but the whole family and other perks, who would ever want to give those up. So, I told God that I will serve Him only when I retire. Very moment I said that God started to ruffle up my nest. From a position of comfort I began to feel the shaking and the discomfort. I started clashing with my boss. It was bad enough for me to consider quitting the job. That was when I felt the Lord telling me to ask for early retirement. At the age of 43? Never. The airline will never agree to that. The earliest age for retirement is 45. They however agreed. I found myself retired. And I remembered what I had told the Lord. It has been 18 years since I have entered into full time ministry. I know beyond a shadow of a doubt what God's will is for me. I understand completely what it is to live for Christ. That life is not about me. It is about God. You will indeed miss the point if you think life is about you. Amy is a student at AGBC. She shared this at the AGBC Nite this last Monday. She was a high flyer. Climbing the corporate ladder in various MNCs. She worked long hours. Both she and her husband bought several houses as investments and were working hard to pay the loans. Then suddenly she was struck with nose cancer. Whilst undergoing treatment she had plenty of time to think and reflect. It was then that she realized that she had lived life for herself. Though she had come to Jesus many years before, she hardly know Him. She was certainly not living a Christian life. She had never shared Christ with anyone. She had not given a second thought for anyone else except herself. There and then she made a commitment to God - that if God would give her a second chance, she would live the life she was meant to live. She realized that if she had gained the whole world and yet lose her soul she would have missed the point of life. What about us? are we living life as we should? We will miss the point of life if we think life is about us. It is not. In good times we will often thank God and give Him praise. But what if it is not? What if things are really difficult for us? What if every moment is one of suffering? What if you wanted something and you prayed and waited? Would you grumble against God? Or would you give thanks to God irrespective? Would you say God knows best? Would you say that this is God's will for you and you will live life to the fullest irrespective? We will miss out on the point of our faith if we think God is a cosmic bellboy doing things at our bidding-we will miss out on the point of our salvation if we think that God must do whatever we tell Him to. Life is not about us. It is about God. It is not our will be done. It is His will be done. But what causes us to miss the point? After scolding Peter, Jesus went on to speak about what it is that will cause us to miss the point. We will miss the point when the focus is upon ourselves. When we hold on to preconceived ideas. When we refuse to yield to God. I missed the point on what my boss wanted when I hold on to what I perceive the job to be and did not listen to him carefully. I missed the point of the exam questions when I did not read the questions carefully. I just went on answering them in the way that I had spotted the questions. Peter missed the point when he wanted Jesus to establish the earthly kingdom to kick out the Romans. We will miss the point when we want things our way without considering all other factors. The answer is to die to ourselves. Jesus said that if we are to follow Him. If we are not to miss the point of His will for our lives --- then we must pick up our cross. At that time people who were to be crucified would pick up their own crosses and walk to the crucifixion site. If we do not want to miss the point in our life -- we must pick up our cross. We must die to self. We must yield our opinion to God's opinion. We must not demand our ways all the time. We must always ask what God has to say about a matter. We must seek the good of others and not ours all the time. Dying to self means a daily denial of self. Denial is not always easy. Go to hawker centres - what to eat? Ahh! Trotters - why is it the good things to eat is bad for health - it demands that we deny ourselves - difficult but necessary. Same as in our spiritual health. Fun things are not always the best things in life, Sometime they are the most harmful. If we follow our friends we may end up doing things that do not please God. Playing mahjong. Drinking until we are high. Sharing naughty jokes. The world may be doing it. But it does not mean that they are okay. We have to practice denying ourselves on a daily basis and stick to only things that are good for us. If we are not to miss out on God we have to deny ourselves. We have to pick up our cross. We have to die to self. We have to allow God to have His way in our lives. His will has to be done in our lives. We have to surrender what we want and allow God to have what He wants. Today, what are the things which you desire but you know are not good for you? What are the things you have to deny? God knows you. He loves you. He wants only the best for you. Are you willing to die to self so that His life may flow through you? Are you willing to allow God to have His way in you? Let us pray…..

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