Thursday 6th February 2020. Read 1 Kings 2:1-12, Psalm in 1 Chron. 29:10-12 and Mark 6:7-13)_
_“Be
strong, and show yourself a man, and keep the charge of the LORD your God,
walking in his ways and keeping his statutes, his commandments, his ordinances,
and his testimonies, as it is written in the law of Moses, that you may prosper
in all that you do.” *(1 Kings 2:2-3)*_
Our first
reading today chronicles the end of David’s life; a young man who came into the
scene as a shepherd boy, the youngest son of Jesse who, by God’s Divine choice
rose to the position of the King. The life of David is like a book of many
chapters which contain so many valid life lessons.
As David
was about to die, he called his Son Solomon and gave him the best leadership
advice any good leader could afford which can be summarised as follows: “Keep
God’s commandments and everything will go well for you.”
This advice
came out of the depth of David’s own reflection about his life. David learnt in
a bitter way that things did not go well for him whenever he went against God’s
instructions.
David did
not want Solomon to make the same mistakes he made. “If your sons take heed to
their way, to walk before me in faithfulness with all their heart and with all
their soul, there shall not fail you a man on the throne of Israel.” (1 Kings
2:4).
The truth
is that God’s commandments represent the terms and conditions of our covenant
relationship with Him. By ignoring these commandments, we deliberately remove
ourselves from this relationship and expose ourselves to danger. If we play our
part and do what pleases God, God fulfils His promises to us.
In today’s
Gospel passage, Jesus sends his disciples to go and preach and in doing so,
Jesus gave them specific instructions to guide their missionary enterprise. So
long as they were faithful to these instructions, they were extremely
successful.
These
disciples who once feared for their lives out there on the sea, the disciples
who had a hard time grappling with the Divinity of Jesus, who wondered at how
Jesus was able to cure the demoniac are now the ones preaching, casting our
demons and healing sick people.
Truly,
there is no limit to what we can achieve when we follow God’s instructions and
keep His commandments. By our obedience to God, we give God the freedom to work
through us and we enjoy His protection and grace.
Let us pray: Lord Jesus, whenever I feel like disobeying your commandments, help me to
remember what I stand to gain by allowing your will to be done. Amen.
Happy New
Month. Be Happy. Live Positive. Have Faith. It is well with you. (Thursday of
the 4th week in Ordinary Time. Bible Study: 1 Kings
2:1-12, Psalm in 1 Chron. 29:10-12 and Mark 6:7-13).
No comments:
Post a Comment