Tuesday 18th
February 2020. Read James 1:12-18, Psalm 94 and Mark 8:14-21)_
_“God
cannot be tempted with evil and he himself tempts no one, but each person is
tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire.” *(James 1:13-14)*_
Since the Garden
of Eden, we humans have not stopped playing the blame game. Adam pointed at Eve and
Eve pointed at the serpent. When we are caught in a sin, we immediately point
fingers. We always believe someone else is responsible and we are not at fault.
Today, St.
James challenges us with the raw truth: we are our own biggest enemies. We are often
the originators of our own failures. As Jesus said in Matthew 15:19 “For out of
the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, fornication, theft, false
witness, slander.”
Satan will
never succeed in making us sin without our own consent, more still, our
temptations are products of our own desires. No wonder they say: “Be careful
what you wish for.” Desires are very powerful motivators; they shape our very
lives. The truth is we are barely conscious of our desires because we fail to
examine our hearts.
Start taking
responsibility for your life. Stop playing the blame game. Start cleaning the
inside of your cup. Yes, everyone around you is bad but change must first begin
with the man (or woman) you see in the mirror. The most powerful man is not the
he who conquers the world but he who has conquered himself.
Take time
every day to examine your conscience and you will become better at fighting
temptations. The man who knows his fence is broken will be more alert to armed
robbers than the man who goes to sleep without realising he has no security.
Jesus was disappointed
with his disciples because did not seem to understand his parable. Jesus was
warning them against being corrupted by the yeast of the Pharisees (their spirituality
of hypocrisy) but they assumed Jesus was talking about bread. Like these
disciples, there are times we fail to understand the word of God or draw a
wrong interpretation when we read. This is why we must always call on the Holy
Spirit for enlightenment when we read the Bible.
Let us pray:
Lord Jesus, open my eyes to see the logs each time I notice the specks in
others. Open my eyes to understand your word and not be carried away by false interpretations.
Amen.
Be Happy.
Live Positive. It is well with you. (Tuesday of the 6th week in Ordinary Time.
Bible Study: James 1:12-18, Psalm 94 and Mark 8:14-21).
No comments:
Post a Comment