Bible
Study: Hosea 14, 1 to 9. Matthew 10, 16 to 23.
For some days now, we have
been looking at the mission Jesus gave his apostles and by extension to everyone
us. It is a mission to preach and that preaching is one that we do not really
have to use words all the time because of the loudness of our actions. However today,
Jesus is letting us know that once we accept this mission of preaching, once we
become determined to walk the walk and live in the light, we should be prepared
for trouble!
Yes, get ready for trouble. The
book of Sirach would say: “My child, when you are prepared to serve the Lord,
prepare yourself for an ordeal.” Sirach 2,1. You may ask, why does it have to
be so difficult? Yes, it is difficult because by accepting to serve God, you
are disrupting the kingdom of Satan so be sure that he would want to put up a
fight.
This fight is what Jesus
expresses by saying, “I am sending you out like sheep in the midst of wolves.” Just
as wolves and sheep cannot dwell together peacefully, Satan and his agents
would not stop trying all manner of things to pull you down. It is for this
reason that Karl Rahner would say: “If you say you are a Christian today, it is
either you are mystic or a complete unbeliever.” The meaning of this statement
is that, you are either a very serious Christian or you are not a believer.
There is no middle way,
there is nothing like “let me just do the minimum.” Anyone who has such an attitude
easily gives in to pressure from Satan and from the world. That is why these
days, you can no longer distinguish those who say they are Christians from
those who do not even go to Church at all. And this is why Christians are not
making any impact in our world today or changing the moral status of society.
Jesus says, we should be
wise as serpents and innocent as doves. This means we should be on guard
against the attacks of others and do everything possible like the serpent to
prevent ourselves from being defeated or killed spiritually. Yet to be at the
same time as innocent as a dove is that we should never return wickedness with
wickedness or seek to revenge. We should not expect a smooth ride as people
will hate us and persecute us for no just cause.
Just as the prophet Hosea
calls on the House of Israel to repent and return back to God, we too are
called to accept the difficult task of going out to call people to repentance. It
is not easy to tell a person his mouth is smelling, he may hate you for it or
attack you, yet, that is precisely what the mission is all about. Preaching
that does not “offend” people – cause them to search inwards and change their lives
is not really preaching. Our preaching should be able to tell people the truth
no matter how bitter it is and if they attack us for telling the truth, let
such attacks become the cross we carry. We shouldn’t avoid the truth simply for
fear of people’s reaction otherwise we would water down the message and end up
only telling them what they like to hear. Much of our preaching in churches
today is no longer truth that touches hearts and move them to repentance but
motivational messages that are laden with so much prayers and fake prophesying.
Let us Pray:
Lord Jesus, give me the
grace of faithfulness to the truth and courage to overcome trials and attacks
from Satan and agents as I continue to destroy him by my preaching.. Amen.
Good morning.
Be Happy. Live Positive. Have Faith. It is well with you.
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