Thought For Today

I greet you in Jesus’ precious name! It is Saturday morning, the 27th of June, 2026, and this is your friend, Angus Buchan, with a thought for today.
We start in Proverbs 14:23:
“In all labour there is profit,…”
Then we go to Mark 6:3:
“Is this not the carpenter, the Son of Mary,...?”
Yes, Jesus was a carpenter. He was a blue-collar worker. By the way, my late dad was a blacksmith, and my grandfather was a master blacksmith - working men, hard-working men as Jesus was. They say maybe He was more of a stone mason than a carpenter, because in those days there were not a lot of trees around the area of Nazareth, and they used a lot of stone to build their houses.
I want to talk to you about Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. He wrote a poem in 1842 called “The Village Blacksmith”, and this poem is all about honesty, satisfaction, and hard work. If ever we needed to work hard, it is now. It is a beautiful poem, and for the young people listening to this, please listen carefully. This is how it goes:
Under a spreading chestnut-tree
The village smithy stands;
The smith, a mighty man is he,
With large and sinewy hands;
And the muscles of his brawny arms
Are strong as iron bands.
His hair is crisp, and black, and long,
His face is like the tan;
His brow is wet with honest sweat,
He earns whate’er he can,
And looks the whole world in the face
For he owes not any man.
Week in, week out, from morn to night,
You can hear his bellows blow;
You can hear him swing his heavy sledge,
With measured beat and slow,
Like a sexton
ringing the village bell,
When the evening sun is low.
And children coming home from school
Look in at the open door;
They love to see the flaming forge
And hear the bellows roar,
And catch the burning sparks that fly
Like chaff from a threshing floor.
He goes on Sunday to the church,
And sits among his boys;
He hears the parson pray and preach,
He hears his daughter’s voice,
Singing in the village choir,
And it makes his heart rejoice.
It sounds to him like her mother’s voice,
Singing in paradise!
He needs must think of her once more,
How in the grave she lies
And with his hard, rough hand he wipes
A tear out of his eyes.
Toiling,-rejoicing,-sorrowing,
Onward through life he goes;
Each morning sees some task begin,
Each evening sees it close;
Something attempted, something done,
Has earned a night’s repose.
Thanks, thanks to thee my worthy friend,
For the lesson thou hast taught!
Thus at the flaming forge of life
Our fortunes must be wrought;
Thus on its sounding anvil shaped
Each burning deed and thought.
Jesus bless you and have a wonderful day
Goodbye.

I greet you in Jesus’ precious name! It is Friday morning, the 26th of June, 2026, and this is your friend, Angus Buchan, with a thought for today.
We go to the Book of Acts 23:26-30:
”To the most excellent governor Felix: Greetings. This man was seized by the Jews and was about to be killed by them. Coming with the troops I rescued him, having learned that he was a Roman. And when I wanted to know the reason they accused him, I brought him before their council. I found out that he was accused concerning questions of their law, but had nothing charged against him deserving of death or chains. And when it was told me that the Jews lay in wait for the man, I sent him immediately to you, and also commanded his accusers to state before you the charges against him. Farewell.”
This is a letter written by an unbeliever, we’re assuming, a Roman commander to his Governor, Felix. This man actually saved one of Christianity’s greatest ambassadors, the Apostle Paul. You know what the Lord laid on my heart this morning? I really want to share it with you. As Christians, we must learn to speak up, and we must learn to get involved with the things of this world. Now you’ve heard me say many times before, we are sojourners, we are travellers through a foreign land. This is not our home, our home is in Heaven, but this man is an example to us. He got involved and as a result saved the life of Paul, the Apostle. If he hadn’t got involved and sent this letter with his soldiers to Caesarea, to the Governor Felix, Paul would have been killed.
I don’t know how many times unbelievers have put us to shame when it comes to doing the right thing. We walk past, we look the other way. We must not do that. We are not of this world, but we are representatives of Jesus Christ in the world. He could have just turned the other way and said, ”Look, it’s got nothing to do with me. Do what you like with him.” They would have killed him. Today, you and I, as ambassadors of Christ have a responsibility in society to speak up and say, “Hey, that’s not right” or to defend an innocent man.
Jesus bless you and let’s stand up for the king.
Goodbye.

I greet you in Jesus’ precious name! It is Thursday morning, the 25th of June, 2026, and this is your friend, Angus Buchan, with a thought for today.
We start in the Book of Deuteronomy 15:11: ‘
You shall open your hand wide to your brother, to your poor and your needy, in your land.’
Then we go to Matthew 25:40:
‘Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these My brethren, you did it to Me.’
That’s Jesus speaking.
I want to say to you today, we cannot out-give the Lord. The Lord is a giver by nature. Remember, He has actually given His very life so that you and I can live! When we start to give, we must give to someone who can’t repay us. There must be no conditions, no ulterior motives. It is not like an insurance company, you put more money in and you get more out. No, not at all. You give unconditionally, not expecting anything back from that person. Why? Because we are actually giving to the Lord, and I want to tell you from personal experience, you can never out-give God. God is a giver by nature, unlike the devil, who is a thief. The devil comes to steal, kill and to destroy but Jesus said, “I came to give you life abundantly.” (John 10:10) And that is exactly what you and I have to do. We have to give unconditionally to those who can’t give back to us and that is a proof that we are not giving for any personal gain.
I remember as a new Christian, I asked my minister once, “How much must I give?” He said, “Give till it hurts.” But it must hurt a little bit, otherwise it is not worth anything. And you know it is amazing, it’s happened to me. I’m sure it’s happened to you as well. When you give to someone who is really struggling, and you are too, but you just give him something, it makes you feel so much better because God has given us a heart, and our heart is to give to others and to bless others and to see them prosper.
I went to the hairdresser the other day to get my hair done. I haven’t got much hair left but I went to smarten myself up to look smart for my wife. After this gentleman had finished cutting my hair, I stood up and I said, ”How much do I owe you?” He said, ”No, you don’t owe me anything. The man who has just left paid for you.” You know I was deeply touched. I couldn’t find him to say thank you even but I know that God will bless him.
Today, do something for people who cannot repay you.
Jesus bless you and goodbye.

I greet you in Jesus’ precious name! It is Wednesday morning, the 24th of June, 2026, and this is your friend, Angus Buchan, with a thought for today.
We start in 2 Samuel 5:19:
“…so David enquired of the Lord, ‘Shall I go and attack the Philistines? Will you deliver them into my hands?’
Then we go to Matthew 7:7:
“Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you.”
Do not leave your quiet time room until you have enquired of the Lord. We need to ask the Lord, my dear friend. So often, we are impulsive. I am a bad one for that, ask my wife! I am changing feet sometimes, but we can’t afford to do that anymore. We don’t have the time, we don’t have the resources, and life is too hectic. We need to seek the Lord first. He is our compass. He is our direction-finder. We need to say, “Lord, do we buy that farm?” Or “Do we sell this farm?” That is a huge decision to make and it affects everybody on the farm, not just you, sir. All the people that you employ, your children having to change schools, your wife, having to change everything. We can’t “wing it”, as they say. We need to seek God's direction.
“Oh yes, but Angus, I have been doing that, and I haven’t heard anything.” Well then, don’t do anything until you hear from God. When you are going to buy that new pick-up, that new motorcar, first wait on the Lord. Ask Him to give you direction. Do I trade in my old one and buy the new one? The Lord might say, “Is your old one causing you any problems?” No. “Why do you want to outlay that excess money to get yourself into debt so that you can drive a vehicle like your next-door neighbour. Don’t do that.”
What about your crops? “Well, I am going to grow the same crops that everybody else grows.” Why? Seek the Lord first. He might tell you, “No. I don’t want you to plant any maize next year. I want you to plant wheat.” We need to seek from the Lord, and don’t leave your quiet time room until you get an answer from the Lord. And that will make you a wise man or woman.
Jesus bless you and have a wonderful day, goodbye.

I greet you in Jesus’ precious name! It is Tuesday morning, the 23rd of June, 2026, and this is your friend, Angus Buchan, with a thought for today.
We start in that well-known scripture found in Psalm 20:7:
”Some trust in chariots, and some in horses; But we will remember the name of the Lord our God.”
Then we go to Acts 23:14:
“They came to the chief priests and elders, and said, “We have bound ourselves under a great oath that we will eat nothing until we have killed Paul.”
Forty men pledge that they will eat nothing, they will drink nothing, until they kill the apostle, Paul. But of course, Jesus is Paul’s protector. He is also your protector and my protector.
What happened was that a young boy, the son of Paul’s sister, overheard the ambush that was going to take place and went to the Roman Commander and told them what was going to happen, and they took Paul out of the city. They protected him. Isn’t that beautiful? The Lord protects you and me often, and we do not even know that He is doing it. We will know when we get to Heaven. We just thank Him every day for protecting our families, our children, our parents, the widows and the orphans. He is our protection.
Remember that story of the preacher named William Duma who operated on the South Coast of KwaZulu-Natal? He was going on a bus to another preaching appointment. He was in the middle of the sugarcane fields, sitting in the front of the bus on the passenger side, when all of a sudden, the Holy Spirit impressed upon him to get off the bus immediately. So he pulled the emergency wire. The bus driver came to an abrupt halt. There was dust flying all over the place. The bus driver was very angry. “Who pulled the emergency wire, right in the middle of the sugarcane fields?” There were no houses, no village anywhere near to be seen. This little preacher put up his hand. He said, “It was me. I have to get off the bus.” The driver said, “Are you mad? You are in the middle of nowhere.” "Well,” he said, “the Lord told me I have to get off.” Well, he opened the door and pushed William Duma out, threw his suitcase after him, slammed the door, put the bus into gear and roared off with a cloud of dust, and the little man of God stood there wondering, “Why have You done this, Lord?” But do you know that the bus went round the corner, and it wasn’t a couple of kilometres away when it had a head-on collision with a truck coming from the opposite direction, and the worst damage was right in the passenger seat, in the front row, right next to where the bus driver was seated. William Duma would have died instantly. It was not his time.
Don’t be afraid today, call upon the name of the Lord. He will send His angels to protect you.
Jesus bless you and have a wonderful day.
Goodbye.