Today’s Readings:
Apocalypse 1:1-4,2:1-5
Psalm 1:1-4,6
Luke 18:35-43
So, I always talk about relationships. I am one of those people who believe that to truly love anybody, you have to, first of all, love God who loved you first. It is from that foundation of experiencing the love, peace and presence of God in your life, that you will draw inspiration from which to love another human being like yourself. Otherwise, your relationship with others would be shaky at best.
Today, we begin reading from the Book of Revelation and just like any other book, it is riddled with mysteries. People are not sure what the book is about. But I want to give you a key and it will guide our reading through it for the next few days. The key we need to decipher the book is “Personal Relationship with God” and all the possibilities that can happen in it, the good and negative things, the trials and tribulations, the triumphs and victories that will attend this relationship. Think of your relationship with God as somebody you just met. The first moment you meet this person, you are excited (“Who is this person?”). The person is surrounded by an air of mystery. And then gradually, you put a name to the face. Soon, you start filling in other details, like where they are from, their occupation, age, favourite meal and colour. You extend your relationship to your respective families. As you two become more comfortable, you start sharing your day and deeds with them. You begin to notice the good and not-so-good things about your partner. You go from being just a face in the crowd to being a person in their life. The same way with God. We take things a step at a time.
Get to know God—His likes and dislikes. God’s identity and character are imprinted on the human soul; “Love good, avoid evil”. Love your neighbour as yourself. The details of these injunctions are contained in the Commandments. But then something can happen in our relationship with God, just like it can happen in our relationship with people. We can grow so used to God and people that we begin to place conditions on our love for them. We begin to question their motives; we make unhealthy comparisons and lay down conditions for our love. Revelation 2:5 — “I have this complaint to make; you have less love now than you used to. Think where you were before you fell; repent, and do as you used to at first.” It is possible to start losing steam as you grow conversant with people you love. Remind yourself constantly that you do not love them for reasons you once had. That you love them despite their shortcomings just as people love you despite your shortcomings. The only way to grow in love is to build your relationships on the foundation of prayer. Pray as if everything depends on prayer and work as if everything depends on you. Prayer places you on a foundation of grace that is indispensable for growth.
A lot of people ride on emotions. And they think emotions will take them far. It won’t be long before they discover that they cannot run on emotions alone. You cannot do it on knowledge either. Your relationship will expose parts of you and your partner that you did not know about yourself and this can sometimes shake your faith in them. Effective communication can only do so much. After telling this person something for the umpteenth time, you will throw your hands up in despair. Grace will carry you further. The blind man in the Gospel heard that Jesus was passing by and he cried out ‘Jesus, Son of David, pity me’ (Luke 18:38). We must constantly seek the grace of God or else we shall continue to grope in the dark. We will presume that we are alive but we are dead in sin; that we can see, whereas we are blind.
JUDE-MARY OWOH
To surrender your life to Christ, say this prayer aloud. “Father, I acknowledge my sin against You. I repent and ask for forgiveness, in the name of Jesus. I surrender to the Lordship of Jesus. By the power of Your Holy Spirit, take control of my heart and lead me in Your path of righteousness. Thank you, Lord.”
If you said the prayer, Congratulations! Prayerfully look for a living church and meet the resident reverend, pastor or priest
Prayer:
May the Lord enable me to realise the importance of grace and the place of prayer to help me tear down the strongholds of sin, and build myself and my lineage on the foundation of grace through Christ our Lord. Amen.
Comments