In God we Trust

Today’s Gospel Text:  He also told this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous and despised others: 10 "Two men went up into the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. 11 The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, 'God, I thank thee that I am not like other men, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. 12 I fast twice a week, I give tithes of all that I get.' 13 But the tax collector, standing far off, would not even lift up his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, 'God, be merciful to me a sinner!' 14 I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other; for every one who exalts himself will be humbled, but he who humbles himself will be exalted." Luke 18:9-14

Reflection: Here it is; a message for some who trust in themselves and consider that they are righteous and despise others. (vs.9)

And if you thought that this is the only category of people who exist, then you could be wrong.

For there are some who trust in themselves and may not despise others.

There could be some who could trust in themselves and know that they are not righteous and yet may not take steps in any positive directions, beginning with the need for self-distrust.

They could be some who may rarely trust in themselves and may have a very low self-image about themselves.

And there could be categories who swing according to moods or vacillate between the various categories.

What then is the right attitude for a Christian and why should they not follow one of the above categories of people?

The right attitude is that of distrusting oneself and trusting God in all things and everything.  We cannot trust ourselves totally for we are capable of deceiving ourselves, especially when it comes to the eternal path and  in recognizing the God of our salvation.

It is this deception which has been the cause of the birth of many religions, each deceived into creating their own and also creating the many divisions in the church of God. 

To those deceived, even a statement like this can create great bit of insecurity and hurt and may be wrongly interpreted to mean the things they understand as right.

God in Christ Jesus came to reveal to the whole of humanity the pathway to eternal salvation and hence he is the one to be trusted, he who proved himself by the action of the cross.

Prayer: Lord, help me to trust you and receive the justice which you have established through your passion, death and resurrection.

DD = Dedicated Discipleship:  Come grow in the Lord with us

The Word of the Lord

Today’s Gospel Text: While the people pressed upon him to hear the word of God, he was standing by the lake of Gennes'aret. 2 And he saw two boats by the lake; but the fishermen had gone out of them and were washing their nets. 3 Getting into one of the boats, which was Simon's, he asked him to put out a little from the land. And he sat down and taught the people from the boat. 4 And when he had ceased speaking, he said to Simon, "Put out into the deep and let down your nets for a catch." 5 And Simon answered, "Master, we toiled all night and took nothing! But at your word I will let down the nets." 6 And when they had done this, they enclosed a great shoal of fish; and as their nets were breaking, 7 they beckoned to their partners in the other boat to come and help them. And they came and filled both the boats, so that they began to sink. 8 But when Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus' knees, saying, "Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord." 9 For he was astonished, and all that were with him, at the catch of fish which they had taken; 10 and so also were James and John, sons of Zeb'edee, who were partners with Simon. And Jesus said to Simon, "Do not be afraid; henceforth you will be catching men." 11 And when they had brought their boats to land, they left everything and followed him. Luke 5:1-11

Reflection: The letter to the Hebrews defines faith thus; “Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.” Heb 11:1

Maybe modern fishing methods, with sophisticated trawlers, equipped with modern gadgets and GPRS have changed the way they fish but the primitive fishing business, still practiced in most parts of the world, is like working with the same mystery as faith. You do not see what you are about to receive and yet you step out in faith.  

You drop your nets in the water and may either get a great catch or in extreme situations absolutely nothing. It is in faith that the net is dropped into the water, sometimes taking into consideration the favorable factors and yet a fisherman may catch nothing at all.

The only thing that the fisherman knows is that there maybe seasons when he will, with all the trying will get his rich haul of fish.

Here in the gospel faith meets superior faith, faith in the fishing nets to faith in the Word of the master: “"Master, we toiled all night and took nothing! But at your word I will let down the nets." Vs. 5

To trust in the Lord’s word is like looking at the blank waters and casting your net and lo and behold, there is a great catch.

But do not forget to wait and wait for his word!

Prayer: I wait for the Lord, my soul waits, and in his word I hope; my soul waits for the Lord, more than watchmen for the morning, more than watchmen for the morning. Ps 130:5-6

DD = Dedicated Discipleship:  Come grow in the Lord with us

In God we Trust

Scripture/Bible:   He also told this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous and despised others: 10 "Two men went up into the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. 11 The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, 'God, I thank thee that I am not like other men, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. 12 I fast twice a week, I give tithes of all that I get.' 13 But the tax collector, standing far off, would not even lift up his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, 'God, be merciful to me a sinner!' 14 I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other; for every one who exalts himself will be humbled, but he who humbles himself will be exalted." Luke 18:9-14

Reflection: I thought you either only trust God or don’t trust him, but there is a thing called trusting in ourselves.

If you think it is a passing statement and holds true only for the scribes and the Pharisees in the gospel text here then you are absolutely wrong. 

The very survival of humanity is trust. Trust is the foundation on which humanity survives and moves on.  But this trust could be in God or in others or in oneself.

He who boasts that they don’t trust God are in way saying that they either trust themselves or trust others or trust both.  In other words they are putting themselves in God’s place and would even expect others to treat them like gods, with them dispensing their reason why we should also be like them. 

They expect trust from us but would not trust God. They may entrust us with things but will not trust us in matters of God and religion.

What do they have besides a little extra sharper intellect for arguments; they do have pride, in abundant and many a times in humble measure too.

On the other hand, when it is a trust avowed in God it could be a verbal assertion, even constant and consistently so, but with no visible impact in their day to day living.  For example, if you trust God then one practical and automatic outcome would be the absence of worry, because you trust in a God who is a provident God.

Prayer:  May I Lord trust you just the way you need to be trusted.

DD = Dedicated Discipleship:  Come grow in the Lord with us