GOSPEL READING:
John 3:31-3631 He who comes from above is above all; he who is of the earth belongs to the earth, and of the earth he speaks; he who comes from heaven is above all. 32 He bears witness to what he has seen and heard, yet no one receives his testimony; 33 he who receives his testimony sets his seal to this, that God is true. 34 For he whom God has sent utters the words of God, for it is not by measure that he gives the Spirit; 35 the Father loves the Son, and has given all things into his hand. 36 He who believes in the Son has eternal life; he who does not obey the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God rests upon him.
Meditation: Do you hunger for the true and abundant life
which God offers through the gift of his Holy Spirit? The Jews
understood that God gave a certain portion of his Spirit to his
prophets. When Elijah was about to depart for heaven, his servant
Elisha asked for a double portion of the Spirit which Elijah had
received from God (2 Kings 2:9).
The Holy Spirit opens our minds to understand God's word of
truth
Jesus tells his disciples that they can believe the words he
speaks because God the Father has anointed him by pouring out his
Spirit on him in full measure, without keeping anything back. The
function of the Holy Spirit is to reveal God's truth to us. Jesus
declared that "when the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you
into all the truth" (John 16:13). When we receive the Holy Spirit
he opens our hearts and minds to recognize and understand God's
word of truth.
Saint Augustine of Hippo (354-430 AD) said, "I believe in order
to understand; and I understand the better to believe." Faith
opens our minds and hearts to receive God's word of truth and to
obey it willingly. Do you believe God's word and receive it as if
your life depended on it?
God gives us the freedom to accept or reject what he says is
true. But with that freedom also comes a responsibility to
recognize the consequences of the choice we make - either to
believe what he has spoken to us through his Son, the Lord Jesus
Christ, or to ignore, reject, and chose our own way apart from
God. Our choices will either lead us on the path of abundant life
and union with God, or the path that leads to spiritual death and
separation from God.
Love the Lord, cling to him, and you will have life
God issued a choice and a challenge to the people of the Old
Covenant: "See I have set before you this day life and good,
death and evil. ...I call heaven and earth to witness against
you this day, that I have set before you life and death,
blessing and curse; therefore choose life, that you may live,
loving the Lord your God, obeying his voice, and cleaving to
him" (Deuteronomy 30:15-20). And God
issues the same challenge to the people of the New Covenant today.
Do you weigh the consequences of your choices? Do the choices you
make lead you towards life or death - blessing or cursing?
If you choose to obey God's voice and to do his will, then you
will know and experience that abundant life which comes from God
himself. If you choose to follow your own way apart from God and
his will, then you choose for death - a spiritual death which
poisons and kills the heart and soul until there is nothing left
but an empty person devoid of love, truth, goodness, purity,
peace, and joy. Do your choices lead you towards God or away from
God?
Lord Jesus Christ, let your Holy Spirit fill me and transform my heart and mind that I may choose life - the abundant life you offer to those who trust in you. Give me courage to always choose what is good, true, and just and to reject whatever is false, foolish, and contrary to your holy will.
Psalm 34:2, 9, 17-20
2 My soul makes its boast in the LORD; let the humble hear and be glad.
9 O fear the LORD, you his saints, for those who fear him have no want!
17 When the righteous cry for help, the LORD hears, and delivers them out of all their troubles.
18 The LORD is near to the brokenhearted, and saves the crushed in spirit.
19 Many are the afflictions of the righteous; but the LORD delivers him out of them all.
20 He keeps all his bones; no one of them is broken.
Daily Quote from the Early Church Fathers: Always bless the Lord! by Augustine of Hippo, 354-430 A.D.
"When are you to 'bless the Lord?' When he showers blessings on
you? When earthly goods are plentiful? When you have a plethora of
grain, oil, wine, gold, silver... - while your mortal body remains
healthy, uninjured and free from disease; while everything that is
born on your estate is growing well, and nothing is snatched away
by untimely death; while every kind of happiness floods your home
and you have all you want in profusion? Is it only then that you
are to bless the Lord? No, but 'at all times.' So you are to bless
him equally when from time to time, or because the Lord God wishes
to discipline you, these good things let you down or are taken
from you, when there are fewer births or the already-born slip
away. These things happen, and their consequence is poverty, need,
hardship, disappointment and temptation. But you sang, 'I will
bless the Lord at all times; his praise shall be in my mouth
always,' so when the Lord gives you these good things, bless him,
and when he takes them away, bless him. He it is who gives, and he
it is who takes away, but he does not take himself away from
anyone who blesses him. (excerpt from EXPOSITIONS OF THE PSALMS 34.3)
