Bible
Study: Isaiah 26, 1 to 6 and Matthew 7, 21, 24 to 27.
If you
ever done a transaction or business deal with a person in whom you didn’t have
a single iota of trust? How did it make you feel? Dear friends, there is a
great deal of wisdom in being able to trust. And trust is not something people
earn, it is rather a gift you give to others. If you are stingy with trust,
that is, if you don’t trust anybody, you would be constantly scared that people
are trying to hurt you or take what is yours. Without trust, you cannot even
afford to close both eyes at night.
Trust is
indispensable for human survival but the question is: “In what and in whom do
you place your trust?” What is that which gives you the assurance that you
would sleep well tonight or that your day would be good? I am sure many of us
will be quick to say GOD. But then, if we really trust God as much as we claim,
how come we forget so easily to pray yet we never forget to lock our doors and
gates with the heaviest metal padlocks? How come we never really take time to
read our bibles even when we spend countless hours studying books to obtain
educational degrees? How come we panic when our account balance is down but we
never even shake a bit when we fall into sin?
In truth, we
trust things, people and money far more than we trust God. And this is why we
never put God’s words to practice in our day to day lives. We believe more in
the wisdom of the world to get by than the wisdom of God. This is the point
Jesus raised in today’s Gospel passage. “Everyone who hears these words of mine
and does them will be like a wise man who built his house upon rock…. And
everyone who hears these words of mine and does not do them will be like a
foolish man who built his house on sand.”
We hear
God’s words at times and we simply smile. We smile because we consider the
demands of God as impossibilities. We smile because we cannot even imagine ourselves
making the least effort to practice them more still because most people we know
do not practice them yet they seem to be succeeding and getting on in life. We hear
God’s words and refuse to practice them because we do not trust that our
obedience to God’s commands will get us the best of all that life has to offer.
We don’t trust
in honesty so we tell black lies to get what we want. We don’t trust in asking
God and waiting for him so we steal things and take by force what we want. We don’t
trust that happiness comes to us when we treat our bodies as temples of the
Holy Spirit, so we commit sins of immorality. Even though we hear God’s word
every day and we clearly know what God demands of us, we continue to build on
sand. Our castles keep crashing and we are never wise enough to see the problem
with our foundation.
Dear
friends, God deserves our complete trust. Our responsorial Psalm today sings: “It
is better to take refuge in the lord than to trust in man. It is better to take
refuge in the lord than to trust in princes.” Even our first reading speaks of
the advantages of totally trusting God. Isaiah says: “You keep him in perfect
peace, whose mind is stayed on you because he trusts in you. Trust in the Lord
forever for the Lord God is an everlasting Rock.” Isaiah 26, 3 to 4.
You get
it? You have just found the cure for endless worries. Trust in the God and
enjoy peace of mind for the rest of your life. No matter what happens to you
henceforth, just smile and say: “I trust God is already taking care of it.” And
let your trust reflect in your obedience to God’s words. Practice the word of
God.
Finally my
dear friends, HAPPY NEW MONTH TO YOU ALL. It is December, the last month of the
year, it is also the busiest month for all or can I say, the month of the heaviest
traffic worldwide and hence, the month of great anxiety and tension. As you
enter this month, deepen your trust in God. Maybe it is not by coincidence that
today’s readings is focused on Trust. God deserves more trust because he never
fails, he fulfilled his promise by giving us Jesus his Son. Trust in God and he
will never fail you this December.
Let us
Pray: Lord Jesus, may your words be more than mere entertainment for me. Amen.
Be Happy. Live Positive. Have Faith.
It is well with you. God bless you.
Fr. Abu.
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