Is God Just Your Get Out of Jail Card?
Today’s (June 25, 2017) gospel (Matthew 10:24–39) speaks about man’s relationship with God. If we are to call ourselves Christians, then we are to follow in the Lord’s way. How does one do this you may ask? We must follow in the Lord’s way by letting the Holy Spirit guide and direct our every action regarding how we interact with people; how we manage our daily stresses and as a young person especially, how we interact with our seniors. In Philippians 2:5 — Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus — Paul tells us that we must have an attitude like Christ, but you all know how difficult that can be especially as a young person in this world. Our every action must stem from our love of God, our belief in God the Father, Son and Holy Spirit and our determination to live life according to God’s way.
However, do not think that it is going to be easy. Anything worth its salt takes time and effort. First, we must identify what we believe and where do we place God in our lives. Is He there as our Get Out of Jail card or is he the centre of our lives? Do we make sure that we connect every day with his sword; the sword of the Spirit which is the word of God or do we wait until Sunday worship to hear His word?
The Christian way is one filled with many trials and tribulations. After all, Jesus himself underwent many trials and tribulations on earth, and he was always in God’s presence. The Christian way requires us to surrender to God’s will in our lives. It requires us to do the things that are pleasing to God and not ourselves. To do this, we must have a strong belief in God and His principles, as outlined in the scriptures by the apostles in their letters recorded in the new testament. Every book of the New Testament gives us guidelines for effective living in Christ. As such we must know that no matter what our situation He is always present, for we are important to Him. As the Gospel for today tells us the sparrow:
Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground apart from your Father.
Remember, in those days was the cheapest of items and was offered up by the very poor, was still paid attention to by the Lord. You can only imagine how much attention He, therefore, pays to us who He has formed in His image and likeness. From that belief, our faith will grow, and we shall have an attitude like that of Christ. But remember, as I had said earlier, this is not going to be an easy feat. As young persons, we live in a world where significant importance is placed on power, popularity, having a good time and financial security to name a few. While these are important, the question is how do we achieve it? Do we achieve it by following God’s path or the path of Satan?
God’s way is one where he invites us to choose which way we want to go; whether His way or the way of the world. We must make a conscious decision to walk in the way of the light and not darkness. In making this decision, we are sure to encounter many obstacles. We would be lucky if these obstacles came from strangers. Some unknown person, mocking our faith or trying to convince us that our belief in the Lord is false or attempting to make us believe that our life in the Lord is boring. That would be easy because one can ignore a stranger. However, it is usually the people you are close to, your friends, your family, people within your church. They are the ones who attack your faith or rather it is Satan, acting through them, who attacks your faith. Like the incident with Simon Peter and Jesus in Matthew 16:21–23:
From that time on, Jesus began to show His disciples that He must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised on the third day. Then Peter took Him and began rebuking Him, saying, “Far be it from You, Lord! This shall not happen to You.” But He turned and said to Peter, “Get behind Me, Satan! You are an offense to Me, for you are not mindful of the things that are of God, but those that are of men.
Our belief must be like the roots of a mangrove tree. The mangrove tree comprises of a vast root system. The tree starts off with one main root. As the tree grows several other main roots develop, soon you have a series of roots forming stilts which grow from the tree trunk and branches. All the while the roots spread towards the soil to develop a firm hold. As this goes on above ground, don’t think that the roots below ground are lazy. Just because they have reached the ground does not mean that they stop. They continue to grow; new roots branching off from existing roots until they form a very dense network stabilizing the tree. We must be like that. The roots of the mangrove represent our belief in the Lord and the tree itself our faith. As our belief deepens, our faith grows, and we can withstand the pressures of life for we are firmly rooted and grounded in God. Then like Jeremiah in the old Testament lesson (Jeremiah 20:7–13), we will acknowledge God at all times and in all places. So that even when close friends are watching for us to stumble, we will know that the Lord is with us like a dread warrior, and therefore our persecutors will stumble, and they will not prevail.
In closing, we need to remember the words of our Lord when he says that if we acknowledge him before others, he will acknowledge us before his Father in heaven; but whoever denies him before others, he also will deny before his Father in heaven. So again I ask the question, where do you place God in your life? Is He there as your Get Out of Jail card or is he the centre of your life?
Danielle Steele , 2017
About the Author
Danielle has been a Civil/Structural Engineer since 2005. She has worked on many of the more significant infrastructural projects in the Trinidad and Tobago including the International Water Front Project, Brian Lara Cricket Academy and NGL Train 2. An important aspect of Danielle’s practice is restoration. In this regards, she has served as structural engineer/consultant on a number of major Church restoration projects including Trinity Cathedral Port of Spain, St Patricks Cathedral Barbados, St Josephs RC Church and Our Lady of Montserrat Roman Catholic Church to name a few. Danielle worships at Good Shepherd Anglican Church Tunapuna and this article is based on a Homily she delivered at Good Shepherd on Third Sunday after Pentecost (June 25, 2017)
To get the latest issue delivered to your inbox, once a month, sign up for the newsletter here.
