Word to the Wise
Thursday, March 2, 2017 - Thursday after Ash Wed.
[Deut 30:15-20 and Luke 9:22-25]If anyone wishes to come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will save it. What profit is there for one to gain the whole world yet lose or forfeit himself. [Luke]
Most of us have heard the expression, "Get a life!" It is usually said to folks who seem dissatisfied with everything around them and make it known! Deuteronomy and Jesus today offer a life which requires us to make a fundamental choice. Deuteronomy simply says that we can choose between life and death by choosing God and God's commandments and rejecting anything contrary, especially what amounts to worshiping other "Gods." Jesus goes further and says that we can have life if we stop thinking or acting exclusively for ourselves and embrace our own crosses for the sake of gospel. Following Jesus will require sacrifice at different points. Christianity cannot be a faith of convenience.
Today, at the beginning of Lent, we can ask ourselves if we have put anything on the level of God and our faith: money, career, relationships? We can ask ourselves what "crosses" we have in life and how we view these. Can we turn these challenges into a witness of love for others? We have all heard of or know people who suffered from a difficult illness who used their story to help those in similar circumstances.
Perhaps we don't think of our daily "lives" as a "life or death" situation. Deuteronomy and Jesus beg to differ. Our choices each day add up. Lent offers an opportunity to choose life and have it more abundantly. AMEN
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