Good Morning Friends, Today we look at the relationship of the Ten Commandments and the Parables of Jesus and the first …
Good morning, Brother John. Thanks again for giving me a morning question to consider. Permit me to offer few quick comments.
First- Paul reminds the Church at Corinth that “… no one can say that Jesus is Lord except by the Holy Spirit.” 1 Corinthians 12.3b. Unless the Spirit leads us to the good earth, we end up in the weeds and rocks.
Secondly- Karl Barth challenges the view that the only people who are “saved” are those “elected” by God. His reading of Scripture suggests that we are “elected” for service, not salvation. Only God knows where our final destinations will take us. As a rabbi once noted, “Birth is a beginning and death a destination. And life is a sacred pilgrimage to life everlasting.” (Rabbi Alvin Fine)
Finally- Years ago I had a hospice patient that I met only twice. My first visit was to the home with our nurse to sign him up for hospice care. Upon entering, I noted a bookcase full of books about religions from around the world. His “library” would have made a great syllabus for the World Religions class I taught for Strayer University. However, during the intake, I discovered that he and his wife were both agnostics, if not atheists. Their original response to my presence was that I wasn’t needed for this part of their journey. But I managed to get them to let me come back for the solo Chaplain visit that Medicare required at the time. When I came back, I asked them about all the books I saw upon entering their house. How did that fit in with their hesitation about anything religious? Their response was that religion, belief in God, required too big of a jump. They were trained scientists from Oak Ridge who need more fact and less faith.
Which brings us back to my first comment. Without the leading of the Spirit, none of us will be able to produce the fruit of that seed planted in good soil. If we experience the love and goodness of God, we are blessed indeed. And it is up to us to support and sustain those on rocky, weedy ground until the day our savior returns to harvest His crop.
hesed ve shalom,
Daily Devotionals 