Mt 11:16-19 In Due Time
Lord, increase my faith for I long to see your face!
What drives me? In Rick Warren’s book, “The Purpose Driven Life”, he proposes the following solution to life’s problems: Allow yourself to be driven by a purpose, not a reaction. For me, I prefer to be driven by a person and not a purpose. That person is Jesus the Lord. I know Rick Warren would agree with me, but there is a difference between the two of us.
Jesus did not say “follow my teachings”. He said, “Follow me.” He did not say, “My teachings are true.” He said, “I am truth.” The Lord did not insist that he would show us the resurrection. He said, “I am the Resurrection.” Believing in, following Him, accepting Jesus as the way, the truth and the life will lead to a vindication of his wisdom. Not the other way around.
I say this because you hear a lot of talk about believing in what Jesus said, but not accepting who Jesus is. "I think that Jesus was a great man, but just a man." Or, “I believe everything that Jesus said, except for the part about him being God.” It has been said too often that Jesus was nothing more than a wise man, a prophet, another great religious figure.
So, can I be a good man by following the Lord’s Commandments but not necessarily the Lord? Can I achieve happiness in my life without the Lord in my life?
I know I need to fall in love with the Lord before I can fall in love with his commandments. Did he not say, “Love God above all other things and love your neighbor as yourself.” I look back at my life and contemplate the completely different angle, direction, position and purpose it took as soon as I discovered the Lord in my life. I am glad it did. No regrets.
“Those who follow you, Lord, will have the light of life” (Jn 8:12). Those who deny the divinity of the Lord will eventually collapse under the dominion of the world, and this world is still under the devil’s ownership. The Lord asks, “To what shall I compare this generation?” You played, you sang, you partied, you drank, you indulged in yourselves and opened your mind to nothingness - nihilism.
Have our paintings and music not grown darker with time? It seems as though the theatre and news are no longer venues for good but celebrations of scandal. Parties are for all occasions, except for celebration. Computers once conceived for information are now means for socializing and communicating - and not necessarily with those around the world, but with those around the corner or in the next cubicle. Electricity has brought into existence a false world of lights, sounds and climate. We have all grown Vitamin D deficit because we no longer bathe in the sun. All the above can be used for good if they are preceded by the one who is better.
“Those who follow you, Lord, will have the light of life.” The Lord is our Vitamin D(ivine). Sorry.
Wisdom is vindicated by her works. Today, let us call upon the Lord first. Let us follow the Lord first, and allow all other things to come after us in due time.
I love your words this morning, and I love the picture you chose. Reminds me of something I've seen before.Thank you Padresito.
ReplyDeleteI remember a homily explaining the "follow me" and in the homily it was said that Jesus' intention in us simply following Him means that by hanging out with him, just hanging out, we learn the most. Just day to day hanging out, following.
I agree when this happens in our daily lives, this is why we don't hang out with friends who are doing wrong even though we aren't doing such things as they are, even though we're 'just' hanging out with them. We all know that we are not to hang out with 'the wrong crowd'.
And on the other side of the spectrum, this is why whomever a child 'hangs out' with in his/her early years,(their primary caregiver) is of utmost and grave importance. Too many parents don't understand this element of their precious children's lives. They dump their children with strangers or in institutions that are not up to par morally. Those children need to follow the people who love them the most, the people who only want good for them. They should not hang out with some babysitter who happens to be convenient because he/she lives in the neighborhood, or who's fee is acceptable to the wallet. It seems like to me that much too many parents don't want to sacrifice anything to raise their own children, to be the ones who take care of their precious gifts from God.Too many people have children and they don't want to change their lifestyles. They don't want to change their profession to full-time parent if needed. They don't want to take a cut in funds coming into the family home in order to be able and stay home to take care of their children, because they want to "keep up with the Jones".
We all hear and repeat that our children are gifts from God, but I don't think many really stop and reflect on these words "children are gifts from God". I see it as children still belonging to God, but He is gracious enough to LOAN us HIS preciousness - children.
Sorry for carrying on here with our children, something that I carry close to my heart.
ps I erased my comment on a previous day on accident. Have a great day Padresito!
Father, I just finished reading this testimony by Gloria Polo, and felt like so much of it goes with what you were saying at the end of this post. We are so jaded, and so lost without even realizing it.
ReplyDeleteI thought you and your readers could benefit from the link:
http://www.docstoc.com/docs/17643575/The-Testimony-of-Gloria-Polo
It's a long read, but worth it!
Thank you for your reflections, for sharing your prayer with us. It gives me a way to walk out into my day, and to remind me that my prayers aren't in solitude!