Bible
Study: Ezekiel 18, 21 to 28. Matthew 5, 20
to 26).
A few days
ago, we read about Jesus teaching us to pray with special emphasis on
forgiveness as a conditio-sin-qua-non for effective prayer. Today, Jesus is raising
the bar, he is taking a further step in that same direction. This time around,
he says we should NOT EVEN GET ANGRY WITH ANYONE at all at all, talk less of INSULTING
a fellow human being and if we are on our way to offer gifts and sacrifices on
the altar, and remember that someone has SOMETHING AGAINST US, we must go and
be reconciled before doing our offering.
The meaning
of this is that our gifts are WORTHLESS in the sight of God if anger, hatred,
enmity, strife and dissension exist in our hearts. Some people have hot
quarrels with their neighbours in the house, they keep malice, fight with others
and then still come to Church to start dancing and singing as if they are the
holiest creatures on earth and then they still come out to do offering. What a
contradiction?
You see, sometimes
we even think that by giving large sums of money as donation in church, we
would even get God to fight and destroy our enemies for us. Whereas, that same God
says if we dare get angry with someone, we would be liable to judgement.
Hmmmmmmm. In fact, hear what God says to us in today’s first reading: “Have I any
pleasure in the death of the wicked, and not rather that he should turn from
his way and live?” We assume that justice is served with our enemies die, yet
God is saying, he is most unhappy to see bad people die! Aren’t we even
offending God when we begin to pray “Holy Ghost Fire burn, burn, burn, or we
pray Die, Die, Die, Die, on the heads of our enemies?”
It is not easy
to forgive or be reconciled with your enemies as well as those who have made
themselves your enemies for no fault of yours. Yet this is the kind of
sacrifice that is most pleasing to God. It is more precious to offer the
forgiveness of your neighbour to God than to part with your money, your goats,
your yams or plantain and so on. After all, God does not need your money to go
to market and he is not going to come down literally to eat yam or drink goat pepper
soup but there is GREAT REJOICING in heaven over one sinner who repents because
of your efforts to seek reconciliation.
Let us
Pray:
Lord
Jesus, help me to have a mind like you to reach out for the lost sinner rather
than try to use you to fight my enemies. Amen.
God bless you. Good morning. Be Happy. Live Positive. Have Faith. It is
well with you.
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