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Tuesday, October 19, 2004

Meditation
Luke 12: 35-38

Are you ready? Do you have enough oil to keep your lamps burning? The people in Jesus’ time knew, probably more than we do, the need to be alert. Home security was not a multimillion-dollar industry back then, and night marauders were more common. So guards and night watchmen had to be alert at all times, ready for whatever danger may come.

We may or may not have to face the threat of thieves in the night, but we are all called to guard the treasure of our inheritance in Christ. Our enemies, the devil, the world, and our own fallen nature, are constantly on the prowl, seeking to plunder us. They look for opportunities to move us off of our position of confidence in Christ. They insinuate doubts about our dignity as beloved children of God. They seek to cloud our memory of God’s prior work in our lives and convince us that Christ in us is not our hope of glory at all.

In the face of such threats, Jesus calls us to be prepared. He wants us to be ready not only for his second coming but also for all the times he comes to us in our daily lives to minister his grace and wisdom to us. By staying alert, we can guard the privileged position we have in Christ, our standing as “citizens with the saints and members of the household of God” (Ephesians 2:19). This alertness will keep us open to welcome Jesus whenever he comes.

The promise of the gospel is that as we stay alert to the Lord, our enemies will lose their hold on us. Even the storms of life will become precious opportunities to see how Jesus fights for us. The Lord is waiting to be gracious to us. He so wants to minister to us. Give him your burdens and sorrows, and he will turn them into joy and laughter. Keep alert and always remember that you have a God who has loved you from all time and wants you to experience his victory and taste the joy that is to come when he returns.

“Jesus, you are everything I need. You are my precious pearl. Help me make decisions today that will guard the treasure you have placed in my heart. I will keep my lamp burning only as you fill me with the oil of your Spirit.”

One Bread, One Body

All Issues > Volume 20, Number 6

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North American Martyrs

Ephesians 2:12-22

Psalm 85

Luke 12:35-38

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“SIN-TURIES”

“It is He Who is our Peace, and Who made the two of us one by breaking down the barrier of hostility.” —Ephesians 2:14

Why do we see all-white or all-black churches, all-poor or all-rich churches? Even though Jesus has broken down the barriers, we refuse to cross over. Jesus has not called us to be two races, two denominations, two societies, or two nations. He created “in Himself one new man from us who had been two” (Eph 2:15). “There does not exist among you Jew or Greek, slave or freeman, male or female. All are one in Christ Jesus” (Gal 3:28).

Since Jesus has made the two into one, we have no right to our divisions, denominations, and nations. We have no right to accept the status quo in direct contradiction and rebellion to Jesus’ will. “There is but one body and one Spirit, just as there is but one hope given all of you by your call. There is one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all, Who is over all, and works through all, and is in all” (Eph 4:4-6). Jesus intends that there be one flock and one Shepherd (Jn 10:16). He prays that all may be one as He and the Father are one (Jn 17:21).

We have been contrary to God’s will racially, denominationally, and internationally for many centuries. The great tragedy is that we have resigned ourselves to stay in this state of rebellion. If He is Lord, we must not accept anything less than unity in the Spirit.

Prayer: Father, forgive me for living and dying in the sin of disunity.

Promise: “It will go well with those servants whom the master finds wide-awake on his return. I tell you, he will put on an apron, seat them at table, and proceed to wait on them.” —Lk 12:37

Praise: Gabriel Lalement and John de Brebeuf prayed for the souls of their tormentors, the Iroquois Indians. In imitation of Jesus, they laid down their lives to minister to the hostile Iroquois, who eventually killed them on March 17, 1649.