Jesus’ Ministry
February 6, 2019
Scripture Reading: Psalm 138
Though I walk in the midst of trouble,
you preserve me against the wrath of my enemies;
you stretch out your hand,
and your right hand delivers me.
The Lord will fulfill his purpose for me;
your steadfast love, O Lord, endures forever.
Do not forsake the work of your hands. –Psalm 138:7-8
I am often my own worst enemy. Paul states it this way in Romans 7:21, So I find it to be a law that when I want to do what is good, evil lies close at hand. I find myself treating myself to something I know I should not eat but just this once on this special occasion—most of us know the drill. Why is it so hard to do what is right when we have it so good? We find this same reality in our faith history. Israel drifted away from God in the presence of abundance and peace. Faith thrived in famine and war.
We also tend to become more exclusive when greed and power rule our lives. We cannot seem to share abundance and peace with all of God’s children when we have it for ourselves. Sometimes our experience of abundance and peace is at the expense of the others in our world. How do we grow beyond our self-fulfilling limitations?
We also get caught up in the whole idea that for some reason we are better in the eyes of God than those who are not doing as well as we are. We are punitive to the poor and sick assuming without fact that they are in their situations because of laziness when most of them work at minimum paying jobs with few if any benefits getting fired when they get sick. I do not see that in any of Jesus’ actions or teachings. He seemed to live just the opposite.
So, while I wonder why God even bothers with me as I am my own worst enemy. I read that The Lord will fulfill his purpose for me. We must take great hope in this reality, God loves us and sees potential in us no matter what. Once we internalize that fact, we can grow through God’s love and become the people God created us to be.
Prayer: Lord, forgive us when we get too full of ourselves and guide us to practice loving as you love. Amen.