2 March 2014 - unforgettable

2 March 2014 - unforgettable


But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness,
and all these things will be given you besides.

This phrase is familiar to us.  We know what our priorities need to be.  We know that Jesus is the "the centre of the universe and of history" (cf. John Paul II, Redemtpor Hominis 1) and that our lives must reflect this truth.  The trouble with doing this is that he faces so much seemingly legitimate competition for our attention.  We need food and drink.  We need clothing.  If we don't have these essentials the hunger and the cold will make it hard to seek anything else.   But it isn't that we are being called to forgo these things.

Your heavenly Father knows that you need them all.
But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness,
and all these things will be given you besides.

Jesus is calling us to more profound trust.  And he knows that we have a hard time with trust of this magnitude.  He knows that we have trouble trusting him because we don't truly believe that "God is for us" (cf. Rom 8:31).  He knows that step one for us is to realize his love, to realize that we are precious in his eyes.

Look at the birds in the sky;
they do not sow or reap, they gather nothing into barns,
yet your heavenly Father feeds them.
Are not you more important than they?

As we come to realize his love for us we can relax our grips on our own lives.  Even if circumstances don't always play out to provide for us in exactly the way we'd like we continue to trust him because we have a deeper understanding of just how much he loves us.

Can a mother forget her infant,
be without tenderness for the child of her womb?
Even should she forget,
I will never forget you.

Jesus may bring this verse to mind himself as he hangs suffering on the cross.  He is not abandoned even when he feels like it the most.  He is able to trust in God even amidst the worst suffering imaginable.  In order to truly have rest in him amidst the storms we must trust in his love, to share in his trust in the Father.

Only in God is my soul at rest;
from him comes my salvation.
He only is my rock and my salvation,
my stronghold; I shall not be disturbed at all.

We must be able to fix our eyes on Jesus even when the waves are tossing our boat.  We must believe in his providential care for us even when he seems to be asleep (cf. Mar. 4:38).  When he calls us out to walk on the water we must look at him and not the waves (cf. Mat. 14:28-31).  We can only do this is we believe that he loves us, that he genuinely cares for each of us as individuals.

With God is my safety and my glory,
he is the rock of my strength; my refuge is in God.
Trust in him at all times, O my people!
Pour out your hearts before him.

When we trust in God we in turn become people who may "be found trustworthy."  Our concern is only with pleasing God because "the one who judges ... is the Lord."  We don't have conflicting loyalties because God comes first.  Like Paul we "do not even pass judgment on" ourselves.  Even our introspection can become isolated from God and harmful.  We give such great priority to our own ability judge ourselves, to examine our consciences, to identify our sins, that we ultimately trust this more than we trust God.  Even in examination of conscience must be in the context of relationship.  We must ask the LORD how we have offended him and repent, to be sure, but we must not get lost in our own inner monologue apart from God.

Mammon isn't a good competitor for God.  It makes big promises but cannot deliver.  Let us trust in the one who cannot fail to deliver on his promises.  Let us be found to be sincere in his service. 

for he will bring to light what is hidden in darkness
and will manifest the motives of our hearts,
and then everyone will receive praise from God.

Praise from God?  How can that even be.  There is enough in that phrase to meditate on for the whole week.  We deserve no praise.  We are even told to consider ourselves unprofitable servants (cf. Luk. 18:10). Our whole purpose is to divest ourselves of selfishness so that his power can be manifested in our lives.  Yet we are promised praise!  This is the praise we deserve when Jesus is so alive in us that the praise due to him can also be spoken of us.  May our souls rest in him!