Today's Gospel: John 12:44-50

The cornerstone of Christian belief is the Incarnation — God became man in the person of Jesus Christ. Christ is one person, with two natures. These two natures — one human, one divine. Christ is both fully God and fully man. The entire Gospel of John points this out.

In this passage, it is made clear that God speaks through Jesus. What Jesus says is what God says. It is also made clear that God loves us and wants us to love Him. He does not condemn us. But when we don’t hear His word or follow it, we condemn ourselves.

We know the Word, but we don’t hear it, or perhaps we even ignore it. Yet, our eternal life depends upon it.

God created each one of us as a person meant to be responsible for his or her own eternal fate. He gave us that responsibility when He gave us the commandments, along with our free will with which we alone choose whether or not to carry out those commandments. No one else can assume this innate responsibility for us; no one else can carry out God’s commands for us. The buck stops at our door.

We show this responsibility in how we carry out our daily tasks, through the virtues we personally exhibit and the vices that we personally fight. But many of us have a "somebody do it for me attitude." Or maybe our attitude is a political one: I don’t like the commandment so I don’t have to follow it.

If we have those attitudes, we ought to take heed. God also promises consequences for our disobedience. We will be held accountable for our personal actions on Earth.

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Ponder:

Am I still hanging on to some habitual sin, so used to it that I will not muster the courage it takes to let God’s vehicle of grace move me from it?

Pray:

Lord, let me remember that every day is a new day. May I see it as a slant of fresh sunlight, and then put myself within it and let the light of God’s grace push me forward with courage.

 

Copyright 2017 Kaye Hinckley

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