27 October 2025 - upright hearts

Today's Readings
(Audio) 

And a woman was there who for eighteen years
had been crippled by a spirit;
she was bent over, completely incapable of standing erect.

Some of us feel weighted down by oppression, others by the circumstances of our lives. We feel unable to act with the full dignity that should be ours as women and men made in the image of God. This is not merely an aesthetic difficulty. The problem is not merely that we look a little off and would present a more natural appearance if we could stand up straight. Rather, the problem manifests as a hindrance in everything we attempt, making it more awkward and more difficult. It is not that we are choosing the sink under the weight of life, as though we ought simply to focus on better posture as a solution. But although it is a real problem it does not seem to be a problem about which others always seem particularly concerned. The leaders of the synagogue had other priorities than this woman's infirmity. So too for us. People suggest coming back later, at a better time, once a long list of more important things are finished. But not Jesus. Jesus saw this woman and deeply understood what she had been through. He knew that she had already been waiting for eighteen years to experience this freedom and would not tolerate it being put off for another day.

This daughter of Abraham,
whom Satan has bound for eighteen years now,

There were two related problems that resulted in the hypocritical behavior of the leader of the synagogue. One was that he didn't care, that he failed to love this daughter of Abraham as he loved himself. Even a basic level of concern would have made him rejoice to see her healed by Jesus. The second was that he was content not caring since there was nothing he could do. Keeping the woman from coming to the foreground of public attention would help conceal his own impotence in the face of the suffering of the world. To be honest, none of us like to be made aware of how little control we have in the face of life's difficulties. But if we are too proud of the things that we can seem to control we might actually begrudge Jesus for stepping in to do what we were powerless to do. If we have narrowed our focus to a small realm where we seem to be in charge it might by upsetting when Jesus steps in and overturns our illusions. The leader of the synagogue thought that at least the synagogue was a place under his control, where things happened according to his schedule, unhampered by the wider world. But this attitude had in fact closed him off to the influence of God for whose sake the synagogue existed. But it could not close off the synagogue itself to that influence, since Jesus himself had come among them, and since there was a daughter of Abraham in need of freedom.

ought she not to have been set free on the sabbath day
from this bondage?

The sabbath was meant to be a celebration of freedom from servile work, a day to enjoy relationship, especially relationship with God. Therefore it was fitting for Jesus to do whatever would help facilitate that goal in the lives of others. Far from an excuse to ignore the needs of others, it was a reason to specifically see to it that those needs were met. Her joy on that sabbath, at which the Gospel only hinted, no doubt marked the rest of her life.

she at once stood up straight and glorified God

If we are burdened beneath a weight that no one else seems to notice, or if they do notice, to which they seem indifferent, we can take comfort in the fact that Jesus is not indifferent. He does not have more important priorities keeping him busy. He wants us too to stand erect with nothing to hinder us from giving glory to God from the depths of our hearts. He wants us to live free from fear in the knowledge that we are adopted sons and daughters of God. He continues to make this revelation available to us through the Spirit which he never ceases to give.

For you did not receive a spirit of slavery to fall back into fear,
but you received a spirit of adoption,
through which we cry, "Abba, Father!"

Newsboys - I Am Free (Who The Son Sets Free)

 

26 October 2025 - those who were convinced of their own righteousness

Today's Readings
(Audio) 

Jesus addressed this parable
to those who were convinced of their own righteousness
and despised everyone else.

No one thinks of himself as being convinced of his own righteousness. Yet, in large measure, we often are. After all, if we were not, wouldn't we be trying to rectify that situation? Our contentedness with our current level of righteousness mirrors the degree to which we are convinced of it. The fact that we imagine ourselves to not be in need of mercy, having, perhaps, already obtained as much of it as we imagine would be helpful, leads us to the edge of despising others who seem less well situated. We think that we are fine, and fine largely because of our own wisdom and choices. We may have sympathy for those distant indigenous peoples who have not yet heard the Gospel. But we assume that anyone in modern society who was truly interested in coming to and living in the light could have found it if they wanted. We tend to impute any kind of moral deficiency in others to fully intentional malice, that they are either too lazy or indifferent to correct. We delude ourselves into thinking that we have already won a moral struggle that everyone else could have won if they had cared enough to try. Isn't it tempting to try to take credit for the fact, that we, like the Pharisee, are meeting our basic moral and spiritual obligations? When we supposedly offer God thanksgiving for suchlike are we in fact speaking this prayer more to ourselves than to him?

The Pharisee took up his position and spoke this prayer to himself

When we finally surrender one thing to God, whether our pertaining to greed, honesty, lust, or some other vice, we do not typically immediate find our entire heart surrendered along with it. Each moral victory leads only to another level where we find something even deeper and more intractable. As we give more of our heart over to God we discover, if we look honestly, how much is still left to give. This could lead us to despair if we wanted to demand a situation of moral self-sufficiency. But although full surrender to Jesus is the ideal we pursue, it is a life long process to achieve it. And once it is attained we still must reckon with the fact that it wasn't really about something that we ourselves achieved, but rather something God accomplished in us. And only if we persist in that attitude of total dependence will we be able to avoid collapsing under the weight of pride. Throughout life we will always continue to pray, "Lord I am not worthy that you should enter under my roof". The prayer "O God, be merciful to me a sinner" will always be valid, as long as this life lasts.

But the tax collector stood off at a distance
and would not even raise his eyes to heaven
but beat his breast and prayed,
'O God, be merciful to me a sinner.'

When we hear this attitude of the tax collector we may be moved to wish him to understand how much God is waiting to welcome him, how much he, like the father of the prodigal son, desires to show him mercy. But this current attitude of his is a necessary step along the way to the house of the Father. It cannot be bypassed without resulting in presumption, and sliding into the belief that the mercy he received was not actually unearned and unexpected, as in fact it was. Instead, because the tax collector was able to clearly see his own unworthiness he was able to more completely receive the surprising mercy of God that allowed him to go home justified. When we get into the habit of regular reception of divine mercy we are often tempted to take it for granted. But we must not skip the middle step of humility and penitence on the way home to the Father, if we want his mercy to have a maximal effect in our own lives.

From now on the crown of righteousness awaits me,
which the Lord, the just judge,
will award to me on that day, and not only to me,
but to all who have longed for his appearance.

The Pharisee did many things correctly but they were spoiled by his attitude and intentions. The tax collector no doubt did many things wrongly, and omitted many he ought to have done. But they were outweighed by his appropriate attitude and intentions. The works of the Pharisee were insufficient to justify him. But the faith implicit in the attitude of the tax collector was sufficient. Paul too understood that the crown of righteousness is not awarded so much on the basis of righteous actions as it is on the basis of desire for the Lord. This faith and desire is the only way that we can reliably perform righteous actions without them becoming twisted in the snares of our own ego. They keep us from saying prayers to ourselves and offer good works for the sake of self-aggrandizement. Our desire for the Lord is itself meant to become a more firm foundation for good works, ones which can no longer derail us from the path to true holiness.

David W. Morris - Let Us Exalt His Name

 

25 October 2025 - this is (not) fine

Today's Readings
(Audio) 

Do you think that because these Galileans suffered in this way 
they were greater sinners than all other Galileans?

It was tempting to try to imagine that those who suffered had it coming. The reason it was tempting was that it was otherwise hard to be comfortable with the fact that one had not suffered and was flourishing. The corollary to not being guilty for health and wealth was the requirement that those who lacked it must be the guilty ones. This was a common belief in ancient Israel, that such circumstances were the result of divine judgement, just as it was thought that wealth and fecundity were the result of divine blessings. That this didn't seem to be applied in an entirely regular and predictable way, that the guilty sometimes got off scot-free, and the innocent definitely sometimes suffered, was something that could be ignored with sufficient effort.

By no means!
But I tell you, if you do not repent,
you will all perish as they did!

Rather than interpreting tragedies as a sign of our blessedness or even our luckiness we ought to see in them signs of our own need to repent. The worst thing is not to die in an unexpected tragic event. The worst thing is to die while our hearts remain unconverted. The way that we do not want to be similar to those people in today's Gospel who died is that we don't want to be taken by surprise, though, in our case, the surprise we want to avoid is spiritual rather than circumstantial. It is this surprise coming of Jesus at the end of our lives that we may perceive to be like a thief if it catches us unprepared. We can, by contrast, be ready any time, such that even if we are surprised by the collapse of a tower or the oppression of a tyrant, our ultimate end is not a surprise. 

For three years now I have come in search of fruit on this fig tree     
but have found none.
So cut it down.

When the gardener draws near in search of fruit, finds none, and yet spares the tree, the wrong lesson to learn is that everything is fine and we should continue as before. Instead we should learn to appreciate the merciful patience of the gardener who pleads on our behalf for extra time. The three years of the public ministry of Jesus ought to have been enough to transform our soil and enable us to bear fruit. But it seems that we have been granted at least "this year also" in order to receive the fertilization of his Spirit and to hopefully at last bear fruit. It is important for us to understand that he is the one with the power to change us, more than it is anything we can do alone. But we must be open to his compassionate care. If we resist, even the greatest gardener will be ineffective. But if we open ourselves to him we will bear fruit in abundance.

But if Christ is in you,
although the body is dead because of sin,
the spirit is alive because of righteousness.

Matt Maher - Alive Again

 

24 October 2025 - reading the signs

Today's Readings
(Audio) 

You hypocrites!
You know how to interpret the appearance of the earth and the sky;
why do you not know how to interpret the present time?

We have the capability to read certain signs and interpret what they will likely mean about the future. We do this in areas that matter to us the most, whether about weather, politics, or the economy. Because we are always trying to read the signs in this way we have less excuse when we don't pay attention to the more important spiritual signs of the times. Chief among these is the fact that Jesus the messiah has come, opening a time of repentance for the world. In Jesus God will one day judge the living and the dead. His presence among us is a sign that now is the time for us to respond. This is what Paul had in mind when he wrote:

Behold, now is the favorable time; behold, now is the day of salvation (see Second Corinthians 6:2).

We prepare for future contingencies that we know may impact our lives in some way. If it isn't going to rain we may take steps ranging from watering the flowers to precautions in the event of drought. Depending on the condition of the economy we may buy, sell, or hold onto what we have. But, although we like to acknowledge what Jesus has already done for us, we are still often willing to forget about what he means for our future, the future of our loved ones, and the future of the world. 

We are able to see the present time as a period of unique opportunity precisely to the degree that we understand how it relates to God's plan for the future. We prefer to forget that even we ourselves, let alone those who do not yet know Christ, are still in some measure "at war" within ourselves between the law of our minds and the law of sin. This is a sign we should understand as pointing toward our continued need for Jesus.

Who will deliver me from this mortal body?
Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord.

It is not probable that we will manage to completely free ourselves from sin during this mortal life. Because of this we are grateful for the fact we will be able to pay our remaining debt after, in purgatory. Yet it is clearly preferable to do so now, in freedom, out of love for the one who loved us first. Purgatory ought only to be a last resort. To imagine that we can put things off until then and depend on it entirely may actually be indifference, that, if it becomes to predominate, can render purgatory itself insufficient to rectify the deformity of sin within us. 

Let us remember that our debt is not one we can truly repay. It is one that is settled with God on the basis of his mercy. But we must learn to increasingly depend on and live in response to this mercy if we do not want to be held accountable for what we would truly owe apart from it. It is not a call to struggle, so much as to surrender. It does not end in the hopeless of our frail mortality. It ends in thanks to God through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Vineyard - Help Us Our God

 

23 October 2025 - to set the earth on fire

 

Today's Readings
(Audio)

I have come to set the earth on fire,
and how I wish it were already blazing!
There is a baptism with which I must be baptized,
and how great is my anguish until it is accomplished!

Jesus longed to enflame the earth with the fire of his Holy Spirit. This Spirit would make it possible for believers to live in victory over sin, motivate them to spread the Gospel no matter the cost, and unite them as one Body in Christ. But there was a step that had to come before the Spirit was given (see John 7:39). This step was not the baptism of John, with which he had already been baptized, although the Spirit did appear on the scene at that time. It was rather the baptism of his death. For the believer, baptism represents the door through which we emerge into the newness of life (see Romans 6:4). But this is the case only because it makes it possible for us to first be united to the death of Jesus, so that we too might share in the glory of his resurrection. It was from his wounded side on the cross that blood and water poured forth in a sign that the Spirit was finally free to flow through the world.

Do you think that I have come to establish peace on the earth?
No, I tell you, but rather division.

Jesus didn't desire the cross as an end in itself, but rather endured it for the sake of the joy set before him (see Hebrews 12:2). So too with the division he would cause between peoples and even within families. He knew it would be necessary for his followers to be willing to choose him above any earthly alternative, and desired to see them express their desire for his lordship over their lives by doing so. But he did not thereby despise those others who did not choose him at once. It might often be the case that the death of these relationships between those who chose for Christ and those who chose against him would one day give way to resurrection to new life. It could, for example, inspire those who saw others prioritize Christ above all else to wonder what was so important about him, what all the fuss was about. Certainly Jesus did not desire anyone to reject him. But he did understand that as a consequence of giving people the ability to make a free choice for or against him that he would be rejected. He did prioritize making the choice available to others above the fact that not all would accept it, and taught his disciples to do the same, when he sent them out with the expectation that they too would encounter rejection (see Matthew 10:14).

Jesus wanted people to be drawn together into a unity that existed at a higher and more spiritual level than that of mere blood relationship. He desired a union that was based on the highest truth and goodness and beauty, rather than on the mere coincidence of circumstance. This might make it sound as though he didn't value earthly family at all. Yet we know that is untrue. He himself chose to be born into a family, and insisted on the sanctity of marriage and the value of children. The fourth commandment, to honor one's parents, was, after all, his idea. It was not that he despised the idea of family. It was rather the case that he wanted to spiritually supercharge marriage and family by giving it higher ground for a more firm foundation. We do see this evidenced in the lives of saints, who, by choosing to love Jesus above all else, were able to love their families better as a result.

For the wages of sin is death,
but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

We all need to receive the gift of God given through Christ Jesus, the true life without which the life we claim to have is merely an empty shadow. If we insist on so-called life without him we will continue to receive the due payment for the wages of our sin. In such a condition even family fails to rise above the downward gravity of our fallen nature. But once we open ourselves to the Spirit and life that Jesus longs to give us we experience the reality of the fact that he truly does make all things new.

Jesus Culture - Set A Fire

 

 TobyMac - Catchafire (Whoopsi-Daisy)

22 October 2025 - the faithful and prudent steward

Today's Readings
(Audio) 

if the master of the house had known the hour
when the thief was coming,
he would not have let his house be broken into.

It isn't meant to be the case that we behave well only in specific moments where it matters especially much. Rather, the Gospel is meant to define our entire life. We may sometimes find Jesus's concern with a moral lives to be intrusive, since it is meant to extend to every moment. To this extent it will also be unpredictable. We will be preoccupied with ourselves most of the time, and occasionally notice him apparently interfering in our business. If he isn't welcome all the time we will not welcome him when we occasionally notice his presence. It is different if we are trying to live the Gospel and welcome the constant involvement of Jesus in our lives. Then his coming is less no longer like that of a thief. Though still surprising, it is the welcome surprise of the return of the master from a wedding.

Who, then, is the faithful and prudent steward
whom the master will put in charge of his servants
to distribute the food allowance at the proper time?

Though this passage applies in a special way to clergy, we are all meant to be faithful and prudent stewards of the gifts with which we have been entrusted. Priests have to make the celebration of the sacred liturgy a priority, since, in doing so, they give us the food allowance of the Eucharistic bread at the proper time. But we too have been entrusted with specific and unique gifts that are meant to play a part in the physical and spiritual nourishing of the world. The challenge for all of us is whether we will selfishly exploit the gifts we have been given, and the positions of authority with which we have been entrusted, or whether we will instead use them with reference to the master's will, to his reasons for giving them to us in the first place.

But if that servant says to himself,
'My master is delayed in coming,'

Perhaps it is possible to start out by desiring the return of the master, but letting our all too human sense of absence and delay lead us to eventual disappointment and discouragement. At such times we may decide that he is not, after all, worth the wait. The experience of his absence leads quite naturally to doubts about whether he really loves us as much as we thought or if he can really deliver on the promises he made. And if we decide that he can't, we have no recourse but to take matters into our own hands. The further our hearts are from Jesus at his return the more unwelcome we will find it.

then that servant's master will come
on an unexpected day and at an unknown hour
and will punish the servant severely
and assign him a place with the unfaithful.

We can maintain a good disposition toward Jesus even during his physical absence because we can know his will for us during this time. Not only do the parables about remaining alert and persevering help us remain grounded when Jesus feels distant, but, at such times, we still have access to a dynamic knowledge of how to live moment to moment through the gift of his Spirit. He may not be walking this earth with us right now but he did not leave us as orphans. Nor even did he merely leave some lifeless text explaining and justifying the situation. The Spirit animates the Scriptures, making them come alive for us, and providing encounters with the risen Lord himself, even across the divide of earth and heaven. The gifts of the Spirit include the prudence, wisdom, and knowledge we need to live well during this period of history. It is a period not so much defined by the fact that Jesus is ascended and visibly removed as it is defined by the superabundant presence of his Spirit here with us. This is the much with which we have been entrusted. It is a gift we must not take for granted.

Phil Wickham - House Of the Lord

 

21 October 2025 - servants who await their master's return

Today's Readings
(Audio) 

Gird your loins and light your lamps
and be like servants who await their master's return from a wedding,
ready to open immediately when he comes and knocks.

If we remember that we are meant to be servants of the master things will go well even when he is visibly absent. But we all face a temptation that goes back to the serpent and the tree. It insinuates that we are meant to be are own masters. It makes us want to push back against any prospect of hierarchy and insist that we alone are sovereign over our lives. Particularly in a fallen world where we have seen so much abuse of power it is difficult for us to even imagine that there might also be a valid use. We gradually come to believe that the only basis we have to obey others is a mutual, contractual consensus. In proof of this, it probably sounds fairly sane and standard. It isn't immediately obvious to us that we are not all that different from anarchists, doing our best to enforce our own boundaries, and preserve our own power. There are actually higher principles for governance than mutual consent. Truth and goodness matter more. Even if all the world consents to evil it cannot thereby make a valid law. Even if all the world agrees to believe a lie it doesn't thereby become true. Of course men and women are in no position to be absolute enforcers of what is true and beautiful. But if we fail to remember that there is such a hierarchy we are setting ourselves up to fail. When we come to believe that there is no master who will one day return, and that we are the final authorities ruling our individual lives, we tend to slide toward selfishness. We do those things with which we can, apparently, get away unpunished, simply because we desire them. After all, we have failed to set up any absolute principle to compete with our desires. Among the things we miss without such a principle is any justifiable reason to be concerned about our neighbors beyond how they might wield their own power against us. But our fear of consequences can only go so far.

Blessed are those servants
whom the master finds vigilant on his arrival.

When we do remember that we are servants who await our masters return we live differently. We live with hope. And the consequences of this hope are a more meaningful life for us, free from the ever encroaching darkness of despair. Our hope also bears fruit for those around us as we work to make this world more truly human, treating others with dignity because we recognize that they are (or are potentially) fellow servants of our one Lord. The same principles of goodness and truth call us to love both God and neighbor, and doing either automatically reinforces the other.

Amen, I say to you, he will gird himself,
have them recline at table, and proceed to wait on them.

It is true that we don't earn anything from Jesus by our faithfulness to him. And yet he longs to give us so much, all as grace. The important thing is to remember that he is Lord, and thus understand that we have no right to demand anything from him or our fellow servants. When we understand that everything is grace we become more and more open to receive it. He can't give us what will only reinforce our own ego, since that would not be good, even for us. But he will happily give us all things (see Romans 8:32), as long as the thanksgiving overflows to God (see Second Corinthians 4:15).

Chris Tomlin - Everlasting God

 

 

21 October 2025 - arbitrary arbitration

Today's Readings
(Audio) 

"Teacher, tell my brother to share the inheritance with me."
He replied to him,
"Friend, who appointed me as your judge and arbitrator?"

He seemed to be asking Jesus to be his judge and arbitrator, but was in fact asking Jesus to confirm a judgment on which he had already decided. His question wasn't open to any actual judgment on the part of Jesus. Much as the Hebrew rejected the judgment of Moses, saying, "Who made you a prince and a judge over us?" (see Exodus 2:14), so too would anyone preoccupied with greed be unwilling to welcome the authority of Jesus. This man was willing to use Jesus to advance his own case. But the fact that what mattered to him most was to share the inheritance meant that he wasn't open to any version of Jesus that would not help him achieve that end.

Then he said to the crowd,
"Take care to guard against all greed,
for though one may be rich,
one's life does not consist of possessions."

We may not immediately imagine that it was such a greedy thing to ask his brother to share the inheritance with him. But Jesus saw more deeply into his heart and realized that, even if it was a valid thing to ask, the man wanted it too much. Here he was standing before someone who had much more to offer than merely enforcing rulings about inheritance, whether based on fairness or generosity. He was standing before one who could offer eternal life to his immortal soul, but he couldn't be bothered, because that mattered less to him than his dispute with his brother. He was before the judge of the living and the dead, but asking him to arbitrate family dispute, not even for the sake of family unity, but for rather for the wealth he hoped to receive.

He asked himself, 'What shall I do,
for I do not have space to store my harvest?'

Our greed has the potential to deform our souls. Then, instead of praying to God to discern what we ought to do, we get lost in our own inner monologue. Instead of bringing him our thanks for the good things we have received we congratulate ourselves and pat ourselves on the back. We increasingly lose the sense that everything that we have we have only on loan from God. We forget that we are meant to be stewards of the gifts we have received, and decide to use without reference to giver, without regard for the fact that, at best, they can provide a partial and temporary kind of happiness, destined to pass into nothing.

But God said to him,
'You fool, this night your life will be demanded of you;
and the things you have prepared, to whom will they belong?'
Thus will it be for the one who stores up treasure for himself
but is not rich in what matters to God."

On the one hand, we may not think of greed as our defining characteristic. But on the other, it is hard for mortal beings to remember how temporary are even the necessities of this life. We know that material wealth can solve short-term problems. This can cause us to quickly grow addicted, hoping and expecting for it to do more. We do tend to see financial issues as potentially catastrophic to a greater degree than moral issues. In the moral sphere we have been so spoiled by mercy as to take it for granted and treat it cheaply. But no one has been so kind in the arena of wealth. We therefore see financial ruin as greater sort of absolute evil than moral collapse. This at least tempts us to place wealth above God in the hierarchy of things that matter to us. We should instead be concerned with becoming rich in what matters to God. And we have been told what this is: "to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God" (see Micah 6:8).

Matt Maher - Canticle Of Zechariah

 

19 October 2025 - whether it is convenient or inconvenient

Today's Readings
(Audio) 

There was a judge in a certain town
who neither feared God nor respected any human being.

Jesus knew what was in human hearts. He knew that people who prayed without apparently receiving an immediate response would in fact become weary. Although they knew better, they would be tempted to come to see God is a judge who was indifferent to the concerns of others. When he didn't seem to respond immediately even to widows, who were at the top of the hierarchy of those he claimed to prioritize, it was as though his own words weren't serious, as though he didn't fear the results for the people or his own internal inconsistency. People would be tempted to see God this way no much how much they consciously understood it was not actually the case. But Jesus wanted to motivate them to keep praying even when such feelings arose. Even in a case where the judge was purely human it was not impossible that the persistence of the widow would eventually prevail. If one ought not give up even when the judge was reprehensible, self-interested, and dishonest, how much more ought one to continue to petition God, since he was in fact none of these things?

For a long time the judge was unwilling, but eventually he thought,
'While it is true that I neither fear God nor respect any human being,
because this widow keeps bothering me
I shall deliver a just decision for her
lest she finally come and strike me.'"

God is able to take our subconscious criticisms lightly, even playfully. By doing so he hopes to release pressure and defuse and potential explosions where we actually come to identify with such beliefs about him. It is a kind way of pointing out that we know better, as in fact we do. This knowledge leads us to look back on the apparent delays our prayers typically encounter and reevaluate what those delays mean.

Will not God then secure the rights of his chosen ones
who call out to him day and night?
Will he be slow to answer them?

From a human point of view God's timing will always retain an element of mystery. Even when we sometimes see prayers answered, and realize that the timing of these answers could not be improved, these tend to be the exceptions in our experience. But our horizons are quite different from God's. And our goals are never so perfectly aligned with his own that we always even understand that for which we ought to ask. Yet we still seem to see omissions where his action might have made all the difference. But when we experience these we are called to remember that he is worthy of trust, and desires better things for us than we do for ourselves. How he responds might not be the way that we requested or could have predicted. When he responds will probably always be with timing other than that which we would prefer, which, for us, is almost always 'Now, if not sooner'. But we need to remember that he sees a bigger picture than we do, that he can balance out short-term suffering with the long-term bliss of eternity. And we can remember that a part of the reason why we are asked to pray always is so that we ourselves can grow. Our commitment as time-bound creatures is always limited, fragile, and on the verge of collapse. By insisting that we grow in our own ability to persist in prayer God is helping us to become more like him, whose love for us is unwavering.

But when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?

If our criteria for faith is that Jesus responds to our desires when and how we ask, it is unlikely that such faith will last until next spiritual coming in our daily lives, let alone the last day. If our criteria is rather that he continues to transform our desires, making us more like him, we will be better situated for the long haul. Then we will be able to hear and learn from the advice of Paul to Timothy:

proclaim the word;
be persistent whether it is convenient or inconvenient;
convince, reprimand, encourage through all patience and teaching.

Matt Maher - Unwavering

 

18 October 2025 - not abandoned

Today's Readings
(Audio) 

Go on your way;
behold, I am sending you like lambs among wolves.

Jesus did not try to train his disciples to be wolves who were able to engage other wolves on their own aggressive terms. By prohibiting much preparation on the part of his disciples he would make it clear to them that the Kingdom did not spread on the basis of competition with the world. What, to the world, was a severe handicap, was actually an advantage for the spread of the Kingdom. Worldly projects didn't benefit from being unencumbered since they were try to produce earthly results. But the Kingdom had its own energizing power that didn't originate in this world. It won its battles by listening to the Spirit rather than by utilizing overwhelming force. It was like Gideon who only won after sending a sufficient number of his troops home (see Judges 7:1-15). It was like how Israel would prevail against Amalek as long as Moses had his hands raised in worship (see Exodus 17:11-13). 

Carry no money bag, no sack, no sandals;
and greet no one along the way.

We have no reason to assume that Paul ever undertook a mission under exactly the same conditions as the seventy-two Jesus sent. But he certainly internalized the attitude that such conditions were meant to teach. Dozens of things that would have thwarted successful men from completing worldly endeavors were not enough to discourage Paul, let alone stop him. Had he been dependent on the support he received alone the way he might have been crushed when he was deserted by Demas, Crescens, and Titus. He could do without his cloak when needed. What mattered to him was conveying the word of God, which is why the papyrus rolls and the parchments seems more important to him than the cloak. He faced opposition from wolves like Alexander the coppersmith without losing his focus. Because he was rooted in the Holy Spirit as the source of his mission he was able to brush off the rejection and desertion he experienced, even praying that those who did so be forgiven, just as Jesus, and later, Steven, had also done.

Luke is the only one with me.

The temptation to abandon one who appeared at times to be as weak an ineffective as a lamb must have been strong. But Luke at least recognized the greater power that was at work in Paul. It's no wonder how much he himself came to be concerned to see the events of the Gospel and the events of Paul's mission recorded and preserved for posterity. It is no doubt for this reason among others that Luke himself wrote the largest portion of the New Testament. He learned and understood that what Paul said was true for him could also be true for anyone who let the Lord show them the way.

But the Lord stood by me and gave me strength,
so that through me the proclamation might be completed
and all the Gentiles might hear it.

Elevation Worship - See A Victory

 

17 October 2025 - sparrow coins?

Today's Readings
(Audio) 

There is nothing concealed that will not be revealed,
nor secret that will not be known.

The hypocrisy of the Pharisees was a strategy that would not work in the long-term. Even in history it is often the case that things that people try to hide, especially when they are deceptive and devious, eventually come to light, given enough time. It takes only one fault in an otherwise carefully performed act to give the game away. It is true that in this life some people do seem to die without facing consequences for their lies. But that is really still a short-term perspective, for the day of judgment will reveal any inner inconsistencies with one's outer performance.

Therefore whatever you have said in the darkness
will be heard in the light,
and what you have whispered behind closed doors
will be proclaimed on the housetops.

The other side of the inevitability of this revelation is that we must not keep within us things that are meant for the whole world. We ought not fear to speak up for others, for justice, and especially for the Kingdom, in order to protect ourselves from being associated with them. All of these things will eventually come to light. It will be better for the world if we help prepare for that day by speaking of them now. It is insufficient to have such knowledge within our hearts. If we don't allow it to motivate and influence us it will not truly define us. If we hear the word but do not in fact build our lives upon it we will eventually find that we lack foundations.

I tell you, my friends,
do not be afraid of those who kill the body
but after that can do no more.

Our fears tend to be based more on temporary consequences and less on the results that endure unto eternity. It's easy to worry about what someone will think if we say something about Jesus. The day of judgment seems too distant to merit much concern. This is why the psalmist asked God to, "teach us to number our days, that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom" (see Psalm 90:12). We need to keep the last day, on which the quality of our work will be tested and revealed (see First Corinthians 3:13), that we need to keep in mind.

Are not five sparrows sold for two small coins?
Yet not one of them has escaped the notice of God.
Even the hairs of your head have all been counted.
Do not be afraid.
You are worth more than many sparrows.

The last day need not fill us with dread, as though the one who has the power to cast into Gehenna is looking for an excuse to do so. It is rather the case that our confidence in his love for us should motivate us to look forward to that day. The idea that we should fear him is largely about fearing our own all too proven ability to reject his love for us, our ability to fail to respond to his love as we know we should, to settle for the mediocrity of life without him. But the more aware of his love we become, and the more we treasure that love, the more confidence we may have that it will be that same love that defines our eternity.

Passion, Kristian Stanfill - One Thing Remains

 

16 October 2025 - past prophets, future results

Today's Readings
(Audio) 

Woe to you who build the memorials of the prophets
whom your fathers killed.
Consequently, you bear witness and give consent
to the deeds of your ancestors,
for they killed them and you do the building.

Sometimes it is easier to honor saints of the past by statues, paintings, icons, or other kinds of memorials, than it is to do so by imitating their way of life. But even if we clutter our homes with such devotional art, what good will it do us if we are not devout? The only reason it is safe for an unrepentant person to have a statue of a saint is because that statue can't move or speak. Otherwise it would surely be telling them how they ought to prioritize getting closer to God. Having such a statue on the basis of its inability to influence us as almost the same as celebrating the fact that the saint is safely in the past where she can't bother us with the call to holiness, that is, celebrating the fact that they are dead. Devotional art can avail much, however, if we are open to reminders of the lives of the saints, if we desire their past to actually influence our present.

Woe to you, scholars of the law!
You have taken away the key of knowledge.
You yourselves did not enter and you stopped those trying to enter.

Scholars of the law were in a position to have access to the key of knowledge, and to use it to help others gain entry. But they were not so interested in the primary point of knowledge, just as they were not interested in the true purpose for honoring prophets of the past. They were interested in decorative memorials unable to influence their lives day to day. So too were they interested in decorative knowledge, unable to truly impact their lives. Their knowledge of God's word ought to have helped them draw near to God and to help others to do the same. But instead it seemed that they did not draw near to God and, by their bad example, made it more difficult rather than easier for others to draw near to him. Knowledge, as with memorials of saints, is not something which exercises its good influence automatically. They both require from us a willingness to be transformed.

What occasion is there then for boasting? It is ruled out.

It is not our competence in knowledge or devotional art that gives us any grounds on which to boast. We may have Scripture memorized from front to back and have the most elaborate home altar or prayer space on all of social media. It isn't our skill with these things that somehow gains us holiness points. It is the degree to which we surrender, through them, to the transforming influence of God. This means that even something like knowledge really only benefits us to the degree that we have faith. Is God the God or the highly intelligent or artistically gifted only? Or does he not belong to all, Jew, Gentile, rich, poor, male, female, to the particularly talented, and to the less obviously so? Yes, for God is one, and we all come to him on the basis of faith.

DC Talk - Mind's Eye

 

15 October 2025 - without overlooking the others

 

Today's Readings
(Audio)

These you should have done, without overlooking the others.

Jesus didn't fault the Pharisees for their attention to detail. What he criticized was the fact that this fixation was at the expense of more important things. The main points of the law had to do with judgment and love for God. Judgment pertained to justice for one's neighbors, and especially for the needy, the poor, orphans, and widows. Love for God had to be demonstrated in more than adherence to the finer points of the law. It required a reorientation of one's life, one's entire heart, mind, and strength, in the service of God. The Pharisees' tithes were not actually, or at least not entirely, ordered to the love of God. More likely, they were an instance of their vanity, where they enjoyed appearing impressive because of their apparent ritual competence. 

Woe to you Pharisees!
You love the seat of honor in synagogues
and greetings in marketplaces.  

The Pharisees seemed to be in the professional religion game for the sake of the honor they were able to receive from others. Naturally, there were some exceptions. But enough of them had this problem as to become known for it, and identifiable by it. The rewards they sought were not the rewards that only God alone could give. The rewards they wanted were not those that they could receive for things done in the humble secrecy of one's inner chamber, where the Father alone could see. They needed everything they did to be public so they could reap the reward of public praise. We tend to blame them for this. But perhaps most of them started off more sincere and only over time chose the easier to attain and experience reward of honor for their work. After all, more spiritual rewards require a finely tuned heart that is less susceptible to the downward pull of earthly desires. Even then it is only a down payment of a future promise on which even the most saintly souls must wait.

You are like unseen graves over which people unknowingly walk.

By focusing on the outside at the expense of their inner lives the Pharisees became dangerous, not only to themselves, but also to others. By putting on a good show they seemed like they might be good sources of spiritual enlightenment. But if one actually opened himself to drink from such a source he would quickly find himself poisoned, possibly even worse off than the Pharisees who taught him (see Matthew 23:15).

And he said, “Woe also to you scholars of the law!
You impose on people burdens hard to carry,
but you yourselves do not lift one finger to touch them.”

Jesus did not deliver these criticisms in order to crush the Pharisees or the scholars of the law under the weight of his own teaching, as though he said these things only in order to be victorious against his opponents. In suggesting that they ought to life a finger to help bear the burdens of others Jesus was himself already in that moment trying to help them bear their burdens. He was teaching them in order that they might learn and, hopefully, change their ways. If they did not harden their hearts to what he said they might eventually reach a place where they were open to his invitation.

Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. (see Matthew 11:28-29).

As we read in Paul's letter to the Romans, it is not enough to merely judge those who engage in such things if we do them ourselves. Such words are meant to be an invitation, not only to Pharisees and scribes, but to us as well. If we stubbornly persist in impenitence we store up wrath for ourselves on the day of judgment. But if we only learn to seek God's glory and honor through perseverance in good works we may hope for the one reward that is truly worthwhile: eternal life with God and all those who love him.

Maranatha! Music - I Will Delight (In The Law Of The Lord) 

14 October 2025 - interior priority

Today's Readings
(Audio) 

The Pharisee was amazed to see
that he did not observe the prescribed washing before the meal.

The Pharisee might have been thinking of the prescribed washing as part of a national effort at extreme purity in order to win favor from God, who would then, in theory, take up their cause against their oppressors. How could Jesus pay no regard to such rituals and yet claim to have the interests of their nation at heart? Ought he not do every possible thing in order to bring about liberation from the Roman occupying forces? How could he justify his disciples living in the same manner as many others who only skipped the washing because of indifference? 

The Lord said to him, "Oh you Pharisees!
Although you cleanse the outside of the cup and the dish,
inside you are filled with plunder and evil.
You fools!

The idea of wishing to be pure for the sake of God was not in itself the problem in this case. The problem was that the ritual performance had replaced any of the interior content it was meant to call to mind. At best, a ritual washing could be an occasion to set one's intention, saying to God, 'Give me clean hands with which to serve you'. But for many the ritual had come to be seen as something that worked automatically regardless of the intention of the person performing it. As a consequence, anyone not performing it was guilty, since it was the exterior thing that mattered, and not the interior disposition. It was now not only not serving to lead the performer toward purity, it was actually causing him to defile himself by standing in judgment over others. He wielded his external performative purity as a weapon against those who could not or would not perform in the way he deemed necessary. Jesus no doubt desired to disabuse this Pharisee of this notion, the idea that a ritual washing was anything in itself.

Did not the maker of the outside also make the inside?
But as to what is within, give alms,
and behold, everything will be clean for you."

If we're looking for an action that tends toward purity, we can't look to mere ritual, which is easy, and doesn't do much to involve the whole being of the person doing it. Instead, giving alms is an action that can actually accomplish purification in the one who does it. It is inherently more difficult than a mere ritual gesture since it requires a degree of dying to self to surrender something one might otherwise enjoy. It isn't impossible for the motives of alms-giving to spoil the act, as with the extreme example of blowing trumpets to announce one was doing it in order to receive the reward of worldly recognition (see Matthew 6:1-4). But in itself, the act was more difficult to corrupt than something like washing one's hands. This Pharisee was no doubt chagrined to be chastened by his guest. But for his trouble he received a key that could make a massive difference in his spiritual life. If he took alms-giving as seriously as he did the traditions of the elders he would no doubt greatly accelerate his stalled spiritual progress.

As a result, they have no excuse;
for although they knew God
they did not accord him glory as God or give him thanks.
Instead, they became vain in their reasoning,
and their senseless minds were darkened.

The Pharisee imagined himself to be giving God glory and thanksgiving. But he was doing so according to human traditions in line with his own personal preferences. He wasn't glorifying God in the way that God himself desired. This made him, a person who ought to have been a wise teacher, actually foolish in what he said and did. We too must be on the watch for human wisdom corrupting genuine worship. We too are liable to avoid what God really requires of us at times. And our own minds are all too susceptible to the darkness that desires to build up our own egos while tearing down those of others. We need the woes of Jesus in order to wake us up, so that we can offer the worship in Spirit and truth that God himself desires (see John 4:24). 

Chris Tomlin - Give Us Clean Hands

 

13 October 2025 - nineveh business

Today's Readings
(Audio) 

This generation is an evil generation;
it seeks a sign, but no sign will be given it,
except the sign of Jonah.

Like the generation that wandered in the desert after the exodus from Egypt, Jesus's own generation had seen miracles of deliverance and ought to have put their trust in the leader sent to them by God. The desert generation had experienced enough and knew enough to realize that they should cut their ties with the idols of Egypt. But instead of doing so they continued to make demands of Moses, putting God to the test by the way they failed to respect his chosen mediator. So too had those in the time of Jesus seen and heard enough to understand what their next choice ought to be. They knew they ought to make a break with sin and live for Jesus and his Kingdom. But rather than doing so they continued to press him signs. It was clear to Jesus, as it should have been clear to them, that if what they had already seen was not enough then no sign would suffice. But sometimes people ask for signs more as a distraction from what they know they need to do than from any genuine need. We are sometimes quite intense about these requests, as though they stemmed from actual desire to set our minds at ease. But the intensity is more often a result of our desire to avoid the changes we know we need to make, or the course to which we know we are being called. Our discernment is not infrequently a charade to avoid the obvious answer we don't want to hear.

Just as Jonah became a sign to the Ninevites,
so will the Son of Man be to this generation.

Jonah didn't want to preach to the people of Nineveh. He was basically forced to do it. And he didn't exactly proclaim a message full of hope. Yet the people there found within the dire message of a reluctant prophet sufficient motivation to repent of their ways and to turn to the Lord with all their hearts. How much more ought Jesus's own people to have responded to his own preaching, which was motivated by the compassion he had for them, whom he saw as sheep without a shepherd.

the queen of the south will rise with the men of this generation
and she will condemn them,
because she came from the ends of the earth
to hear the wisdom of Solomon,
and there is something greater than Solomon here.

If even a foreign ruler was motivated to travel and show honor to the king of Israel because he possessed much wisdom, how much more so ought God's own people respond to this new Son of David, who was himself the wisdom of God and the power of God (see First Corinthians 1:24)? Whatever wisdom Solomon displayed, even if it was promised that there was never and would never be the like, it was still something less than what was contained in the power of the words of Jesus, for, "No one ever spoke like this man!" (see John 7:46).

The voice of Truth itself had spoken, and the beauty of the life of God had been revealed to the world by every word and gesture of Jesus. Rather than turning to face the light people sought excuses to delay. There may well be many genuine seekers in our world who could potentially benefit from seeing signs and wonders. After all, we read of the disciples that, "the Lord worked with them and confirmed the message by accompanying signs" (see Mark 16:20). But the world may be deprived of some of the signs it genuinely needs if we remain hung up on those we don't. Let's learn to appreciate the beauty and the wisdom of the message we have already heard. There is enough here to nourish us for the entirety of our pilgrimage of life, all the way to the true promised land of eternity.

John Michael Talbot - Exodus XV

 

12 October 2025 - one in ten

 

Today's Readings
(Audio)

"Jesus, Master! Have pity on us!"
And when he saw them, he said,
"Go show yourselves to the priests."

It took faith for these ten lepers to humbly come to Jesus and ask him to heal them. They expressed that faith by the way that they remained at a distance and addressed him as "Master". This wasn't just a show designed to appeal to Jesus. We can see their sincerity from how they responded to be told to go and show themselves to the priests, since they set out before it was obvious to them that anything had happened or that anything was different. Indeed it was only one of the ten of whom we read that he realized that he had been healed while still on the way. They all began with faith and were walking in faith. But only one became aware of what Jesus had done for him. Most likely the others eventually would as well. By the time they got to the priests we may assume that their physical healing would have been externally evident. But one of the lepers was uniquely attuned and attentive to what Jesus had done in him. He was so overwhelmed by this experience that he deviated from direct obedience to the command of Jesus and returned to give thanks. What made him special, or different from the others? Well, whether or not it is what made the specific difference in this case, one thing we know that seemed to distinguish him from the others was the fact that he was a Samaritan. He was perhaps less focused on the temple priesthood of Israel, and on the role it would need to play in his story. He came with a different set of expectations that made him more open to the central role of Jesus in his story. It could have been that the others were more eager than he to be reintegrated into the worship of their people, more focused on the current cult of their people, as they understood it, to be the focal point of their healing and subsequent spiritual life. The Samaritan did set out to see those priests in obedience to the command of Jesus. And probably, he would do that eventually. It would have to wait. For him the central role of Jesus was more evident, and it was this that required immediate acknowledgment. It was, however, meaningful for him to go to the priests eventually. That he would eventually present himself to the priests made him an instance of the healing power of Jesus tearing down the divisions between the peoples, toward the eventual reunification of all of the tribes of Israel. But it all began with Jesus.

Jesus said in reply,
"Ten were cleansed, were they not?
Where are the other nine?
Has none but this foreigner returned to give thanks to God?"

The implication was that the nine omitted something they ought to have done. Had they realized what had been done to them they too would have imitated the Samaritan in returning to Jesus first before proceeding on their way to be reintegrated into the community. But they were more focused on the results, it seemed, and less on Jesus himself. That he commanded them to go did not imply that they were henceforth free to forget about his role in their story. They did come to Jesus with faith. But it was apparently a flimsy faith that seemed too ready to move on once it attained its short-term goal. All ten saw greatness of some sort in Jesus. But the nine seemed content to use that greatness to solve their problems. The Samaritan was the one who realized that the giver was greater than the gifts. He was changed forever, just as we read that Naaman was changed when he found healing in response to the command of Elisha. He was not content to merely return home. He needed something with which to mark the fact that he was forever changed, and indeed, a new way to live from that point on.

Naaman said: "If you will not accept,
please let me, your servant, have two mule-loads of earth,
for I will no longer offer holocaust or sacrifice
to any other god except to the LORD."

Maranatha! Music - Give Thanks

 

11 October 2025 - rather, blessed

 

Today's Readings
(Audio) 

"Blessed is the womb that carried you
and the breasts at which you nursed."

In the sense that one could be blessed by being a mother in that natural order Mary wasn't particularly more blessed than others. We believe that Jesus was an obedient child as he grew in wisdom and stature. But we know better than to think that Mary had an easier life than others because she was the mother of Jesus. It actually led to challenges, albeit different ones than those faced by other parents. He was pursued by Herod after his birth forcing his family to flee to Egypt. Without a word he remained behind in Jerusalem to talk with the scholars in the temple. Although he gained some fame and popularity it wasn't such as could be entirely beneficial for those with whom he was associated since he also made many enemies and gained notoriety within the religious establishments of the time. Finally, he was executed as a criminal while his mother looked on. None of these things, at least superficially, would cause someone to call Mary blessed.

Yet we know that Elizabeth, filled with the Holy Spirit, called Mary the most blessed among women. But Elizabeth's prophecy specified why Mary was thus blessed, and it wasn't on the basis on mere blood relationship. She said, "Blessed are you who believed that what was spoken to you by the Lord would be fulfilled" (see Luke 1:41-45). This was consistent with what Jesus told the woman who called out from the crowd in today's Gospel. His mother wasn't blessed merely because he was born of her womb and nursed it her breast. She was blessed, and indeed only became the mother of Jesus, because she heard the word of God and observed it. She agreed with the divine word spoken by the archangel Gabriel, allowing the word to bear fruit within both her body and soul. It was this supernatural relationship with her Son that transformed what many could have found to be, at best, an inconvenience and a liability, into the greatest possible blessing. At the cross no onlooker would have called Mary blessed. But Mary, reading the situation through the lens of obedience to the word, would have realized that it was indeed a privilege to be able to remain with Jesus as he offered himself for the sake of the world. No doubt even then she was able to persist in hope when all hope seemed impossible. For she had long since come to experience the truth of the promise of the angel that nothing would be impossible for God.

We who are not even distantly genetically related to Jesus can still share in these blessings of his spiritual family when we follow Mary's example of faith and obedience. Then, even as we individually face challenges for which no one would envy us, we can read even in difficult moments the blessedness that we cannot lose as long as we remain near to Jesus. We can persist, remaining confident in hope that does not disappoint (see Romans 5:5), just as Mary did.

Light dawns for the just;
and gladness, for the upright of heart.
Be glad in the LORD, you just,
and give thanks to his holy name.

Maverick City Music Featuring Brandon Lake And Phil Wickham - Forever And Ever Amen

 

10 October 2025 - wrong division

Today's Readings
(Audio) 

Every kingdom divided against itself will be laid waste
and house will fall against house.

It is said that the good is a unifying principle, drawing all things toward God who is himself one. By contrast evil is said to be a principle of division, fragmentation, and dispersion. Yet in this world of ours we sometimes see those whose influence we know to be good welcoming division. By contrast, we sometimes see evil at work that seems highly united in belief and practice. These fanatical outliers are often the ones who seem to leave the least room for diversity in their ranks. Yet this is hardly something for which we give them praise. What should we make of all of this?

We must insist that evil is ultimately a principle of division. It does sometimes ape the appearance of goodness, in a cheap imitation of true unity. However, the supposed unity that is at the heart of fanatical groups is quite different from true unity. It is achieved by violence that is both the normal visible kind and also the hidden ideological kind. It is imposed and enforced. The supposed harmony of evil groups cannot issue organically as though everyone were individually and naturally reaching out toward a higher goal and then joining together in common pursuit. Instead, the the goals of evil are such as can only be attained briefly by a select few. Thus the best one can hope for in such a group is contractual nonaggression. But even then it will only by maintained as long as it was beneficial. Whenever someone has the sense that he can get away with seizing more for himself he has no real reason not to do so. There is nothing in the mock unity of evil that can prevent anyone from throwing another person under the bus if that seems convenient. For these reasons, no mattered how united evil superficially appears to be, there are always small cracks that are just waiting to give way under pressure. 

For you say that it is by Beelzebul that I drive out demons.
If I, then, drive out demons by Beelzebul,
by whom do your own people drive them out?

Jesus was doing something that was genuinely good. It was meant to help draw all men to himself, so that, together with him they could share life with the Father and the Holy Spirit. He himself was the supremely unifying influence since he himself was the way, the truth, and the life, and since besides him there was no way to the Father. Why then, did he say that he came to bring not peace but division? We can say that he came to bring division to that which only had appearance of unity in order that the true unity that was found in him alone could be made known. There were, in the time of Jesus, various groups, each with their own consensus about the truth. But they couldn't all be right. And there was no way that such limited perspectives could provide the lasting basis for a kingdom. We see the obvious problem with such tensions when Paul led the Sadducees and the Pharisees into an argument about the resurrection. Jesus came to expose lies and the father of lies in order that the truth and the way to our heavenly Father could be revealed.

When a strong man fully armed guards his palace,
his possessions are safe.
But when one stronger than he attacks and overcomes him,
he takes away the armor on which he relied
and distributes the spoils.

The enemy used his strength to subjugate others. These were his possessions whom he kept "safe" only in the sense that they weren't stolen from him. But Jesus used his greater strength to give freedom to captives such as these. He said to those who listened to him, "you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free" (see John 8:32) and that "if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed" (see John 8:36). And yet somehow this freedom would conduce to a unity that was greater and more real than the one that the devil tried to impose and enforce.

But upon returning, it finds it swept clean and put in order.
Then it goes and brings back seven other spirits
more wicked than itself who move in and dwell there,
and the last condition of that man is worse than the first.

One tempting illusion that is not actually a possibility is the idea of neutral ground. Without committing to the way of goodness we leave ourselves open as easy pickings for the powers of darkness. We aren't strong enough fight on our own, and aren't meant to be. We're meant to find our strength by participating in something bigger, better, and more beautiful than any of us alone. To this end, let us listen to Paul writing to the Galatians:

For freedom Christ has set us free; stand firm therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery (see Galatians 5:1).

 

Newsboys - I Am Free (Who The Son Sets Free)