Bible
Study: 1st Corinthians 1, 1 to 9 and Matthew 24, 42 to 51.
You know
that song: “Are you ready when the Lord shall come? Are you ready for when the
Lord shall come? In the morning 6 o’clock, in the evening 5 o’clock, are your
ready when the Lord shall come?”
Jesus says
to us today: “Watch, for you do not know on what day your Lord is coming.” What
does it mean to watch? Being watchful is remaining awake or refusing to sleep. It
is a figure of speech that has very deep spiritual meaning. To be watchful is
to be alert in the spirit; alert to temptations (ability to know when and how one
is being tempted is a strong key to overcoming such temptation), alert to
laziness; that is, knowing when one begins to forget or neglect daily prayers
as well as one’s devotional practices, alert also to growth or depreciation in
one’s spiritual life.
Being watchful
is like having a thermometer and constantly checking one’s spiritual
temperature. I recall the days I spent on admission in the hospital some years
back; how the nurses kept coming to check my temperature and read my vital
signs at regular intervals. They were constantly on alert for my sake recording
my progress to assist the doctors in knowing what next to do. Being watchful is
becoming a nurse unto oneself as far as growth in the spiritual life is
concerned.
Just as a good
security officer placed to guard a great treasure never goes to sleep while on duty,
being watchful requires that we diligently guard our greatest treasure which is
our heart. Ability to censor and control the contents of our minds determines
our progress spiritually. The Psalmist prays: “Set a guard over my mouth, O LORD; keep watch over
the door of my lips. Do not turn my heart to any evil.” Psalm 141, 3 to 4. The
book of Proverbs chapter 4, verse 23 defines what spiritual watchfulness is all
about when it says: “Guard your heart will all vigilance, for out of it
proceeds the wellsprings of life.”
Being watchful is not allowing the world determine your thoughts, it is
being your own master. Let’s say while doing an assignment, you happen to look
up information on the internet then all of a sudden, a pornographic site pops
up. You had no intention of viewing pornography, now you have seen a picture or
a short clip of some raw act. You have a choice at this point either to click
on the link and feast on more or to close that pop-up immediately and return to
your work. It is either the image you have accidentally seen begins to dictate
your thought or you chose what occupies your mind by deliberately thinking of
something else. If you allow the world be in charge of your thoughts, the
images you have seen will so fill your mind and before you know it, you are
deep into sin such as masturbation, fornication and so on.
Being vigilant is not saying temptations will not come. To be vigilant
is to recognize an intruder and fight it off almost immediately. A good
security guard will see only the shadow of someone and will act immediately. He
will not wait till when the thief has captured him, bound him hand and foot
before he will act. Being vigilant is knowing that the devil can come at any
time in any form to fill up your mind and pollute it with thoughts alien to your
Christian faith. St. Peter puts it beautifully when he wrote: “Discipline
yourselves, keep alert. Like a roaring lion your adversary the devil prowls
around, looking for someone to devour. Resist him, steadfast in your faith.” 1st
Peter 5, 8 to 9.
When Jesus
speaks about being ready for the Lord, he does not say it in the sense of one
having to stop all he or she is doing. Readiness is not the same thing as
Hibernation. To be ready is to become active in the positive sense. As Jesus
puts it: “Blessed is that servant whom his master when he comes will find SO
DOING.” The best form of preparation for heaven is asking myself this question:
“If the world were to end right now, how will God see what I am doing right now?”
Before ever I go anywhere, before I begin any activity at all, I must always
ask this question. If I know God will not be happy with what I am about to do
should the world suddenly come to an end, then why should I allow myself do it?
Let us
pray:
Lord
Jesus, make me ready at all times. Amen.
Good morning.
Be Happy. Live Positive. Have Faith. It is well with you. God bless you.
Fr. Abu
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