Word to the Wise
Monday, March 23, 2009 - Monday in the Fourth Week of Lent
[Isaiah 65:17-21 and John 4:43-54]Jesus said to him, "Unless you people see signs and wonders, you will not believe." The royal official said to him, "Sir, come down before my child dies." Jesus said to him, "You may go; your son will live." The man believed what Jesus said to him and left.
How much of our life is based on the kind of trust shown by the royal official in this story? How do we respond to the expression, "You can take my word for it?" Right now those who put all their trust and resources in the Madoff "Ponzi" scheme are sadly shaking their heads. So much of the apparent success of that scheme came from people trusting other people! The royal official literally put the life of his child in Jesus' hands and simply accepted Jesus' promise that the child would live! That takes an awful lot of faith! It may well be that the official had heard about Jesus from other Galileans, so he first of all took their word that Jesus might help and then accepted without question what Jesus' told him. This is not a trust that means we don't do anything to help! There is an old Arab proverb that says, "Trust in God and tie up your camel!" The official went to seek help for his son! He did what "the doctor" told him to do! Faith and action are all part of Christian life. We can't have one without the other! We can have complete trust in Jesus' word but we must act on that word. I believe it was St. Augustine who said: "Trust as if everything depends on God. Work as if everything depends on you!" AMEN
config
view
logs
3840.0 KB
74 ms
4
