5th Sunday after Epiphany 10.2.19 Time
Many would say that religion in any form is not relevant to
them. They have their lives to lead and do not need anything extra that religion
might offer them, they might say.
But they do not really have a choice. Every person on the
face of the earth, of whatever religion, or no religion, will stand before the
judgment seat of Christ when their life is over (2 Cor 5.10). When all the
curtains are pulled aside there is He, and no other.
Yes, there is a
choice insofar as to how we prepare for that event, but no choice as to whether
or not it will happen. In the end whatever we do, wherever we may roam, it
comes back to that.
From that judgment we will then spend eternity in Heaven or
in Hell. There is no third place for the neutral! There is no Neutral with God.
We are either for Him or against Him (Mt 12,30).
So we reaffirm our desire to be with Him, to make certain
that our own judgment will be favourable. If we do not know the exact state of
our souls we can still do certain things that will be to our advantage.
This is our day in the sun; our time to shine forth.
Consider that we spend a lot of time not being alive on this
earth. There were thousands of years before we came along; and who knows how
long we may have to lie in a cemetery before we rise again.
God give us the gift of time; as well as the gift of free
choice. Here it is: make what you will of it. We can make it go in certain
channels.
We cannot control the future in many ways, but this one yes.
We can spend every moment in service of God, in advancing His kingdom.
And the past too. We have certain disappointments we cannot
reclaim. We see many wrong turnings we have taken. We cannot reverse the events
themselves but we can reverse the attitude, where needed.
If I did something through selfishness back then, I can
reverse the attitude in my mind, reverse the selfishness.
Anyone at any time can say, I am sorry, in such a way as to set
off in a genuine new direction.
This is what it comes to: we are either repenting for our past
life or - if we have already done that – we press on with whatever time
remains, doing things for God.
This much we can get right. One could have a broken
marriage, be bankrupt, spent time in gaol, have committed multiple sins… it can
all be fixed in a moment, as we set a new direction.
Don’t delay. The sooner the better. Don’t make it harder
than it is; as in raising objections, arguing over technicalities etc.
We go on our knees and ask for mercy for what has been, and grace
to make it different in the future.
With a little extra effort we can rise above the normal
standard. Each moment in time can be transformed by the grace of God;
especially if we ask for it to be so.
Thus the good and bad crop live together and share the same
space. God allows the time for the bad to repent, and the good to get better;
for both bad and good to make repairs, and then to flourish, in readiness for
the final harvest at the end of time.
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