Psalms 119:49-72 * 49 (53); Deuteronomy 13:1--11; 2 Corinthians 7:2-16; Luke 17:20-37The Pharisees ask Jesus about the coming of the kingdom of God and Jesus says that efforts will be made to mislead but that in fact "the kingdom of God is among you." Jesus then tells his disciples that efforts will be made to mis-direct them and that they must be steady in their beliefs and faith and not be misled.
So much of life can be like this, where we have a direction, we know the journey that we are on, the path we should trod, and yet there are people that try to get us off that path, misguide us, distract us. A part of faithfulness is not allowing those, who for misguided reasons of their own, desire to deprive us of the journey we are called to fulfill. Being that rock of faithfulness, having a steadiness at our core, is what Jesus reminds us to strive for today. This is not an easy state of being to achieve or remain in, although it is eminently doable. And there is a cost that is associated with this steadiness: a realization that those we thought we could trust, sometimes we can't; those we thought loved us, sometimes don't; those we thought our friends prove themselves to be otherwise. A constant and high cost that Jesus models for us. This is part of the journey too.
jfd+
Copyright 2009, The Rev. John F. Dwyer. All Rights Reserved.
No comments:
Post a Comment