Living in the Spirit
September 7, 2014

 Scripture Reading: Matthew 18:15-20 

Truly I tell you, whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven. Again, truly I tell you, if two of you agree on earth about anything you ask, it will be done for you by my Father in heaven. For where two or three are gathered in my name, I am there among them.’ —Matthew 18:18-20

The above saying should scare the daylights out of us. Do we realize the responsibility it entails? Read it again and think about it. When I was a little girl, and thus my memory may be somewhat limited, my dad brought home a new cow. I think he had bought her from a relative. We milked several cows every day and sold milk and cream so it was not unusual to get a new cow now and then. I seem to remember somebody saying something about the cow being wild, maybe the word untamable may have even been used. My brother and my dad got her unloaded from the truck without a lot of difficulty but that marked the end of any appropriate cow behavior. She ran zigzagging all over the pasture, swam the pond, and may have jumped a fence before her first nightfall with us. I really don’t remember what happened to that cow. I don’t think she lived with us for very long. For a while though she was definitely “loosed on earth” and I don’t think anybody would want to spend a single day with her in heaven. Binding could have equally distressful results. We have passed some pretty crazy laws that we are now bound to follow.

What I glean from this is that we better be getting our act together loving God and loving our neighbors as we love ourselves right now and take as much advantage as we can of having the Holy Spirit with us to guide us for we are right now living into our eternity.

Prayer:  Creator God, Jesus, Christ, Holy Spirit, Heavenly Dove guide us in all that we bind and in all that we loose so that your Kingdom comes and your will is done. Amen.

All scriptures are quoted from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicized Edition, copyright 1989, 1995, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of American. Used by permission. All rights reserved.