Either more or less!

Luke 8:16-18

No one lights a lamp and then hides it under a vessel or puts it under a bed. No! he puts it on a lamp-stand so that those who come in may see the light. There is nothing hidden which will not be made manifest; there is nothing secret which win not be known and brought into the open. Take care, then, how you listen; for to him who has it will be given; and from him who has not there shall be taken away even what he thinks he has.

Food for thought!

Here we have three sayings of Jesus, each with its own warning for life and living.

(i) No one lights a lamp and then hides it under a vessel or puts it under a bed. No! he puts it on a lamp-stand so that those who come in may see the light.

This saying stresses the essential conspicuousness of life. Life is in its very nature something which must be seen. Where there is life there is movement. And where there is movement there is life. In all of us, there is an instinctive fear of being alive; we are afraid of showing others how live and alive we are, lest others ostricize and avoid us. And yet this is exactly what Jesus calls us to be: Be alive! Don't hide faith in Jesus. Remember St. Peter's advices: "Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have." (1Pt 3:15) 

(ii) "There is nothing hidden which will not be made manifest; there is nothing secret which will not be known and brought into the open."

This one stresses the impossibility of secrecy. There are three people from whom we try hide things.

(a) Sometimes we try to hide things from ourselves. We shut our eyes to the consequences of certain actions and habits, consequences of which we are well aware. It is like a man deliberately shutting his eyes to symptoms of an illness which he knows he has. We have only to state that to see its incredible folly.

(b) Sometimes we try to hide things from our neighbour. Things have a way of coming out. The man with a secret is an unhappy man. The happy man is the man with nothing to hide. Happy is the man who can speak like that.

(c) Sometimes we try to hide things from God. But this is impossible because our God is a God of seeing, says the Bible: "Thou art a God of seeing." (Gen.16:13.)

(iii) "Take care, then, how you listen; for to him who has it will be given; and from him who has not there shall be taken away even what he thinks he has."

This lays down the universal law that the man who has will get more; and that the man who has not will lose what he has. This is just another way of saying that there is no standing still in life. All the time we are either going forward or going back; we are either getting better or getting worse; we are either getting more or getting less.

This law works in both spiritual and material things; it works in businesses and in family and even in personal affairs. It works everywhere, every day, on everyone and in everything. If we really strive after more we will get more, if we don't strive enough, we will get less. 

It is the law Jesus applied to the woman that anointed him with perfume: "So I tell you, her many sins have been forgiven; because she has shown great love. But the one to whom little is forgiven, loves little."

Love what you do & do what you love!

Matthew 20:1-16

Jesus said: "God's kingdom is like an estate manager who went out early in the morning to hire workers for his vineyard. 2 They agreed on a wage of a dollar a day, and went to work. 3" Later, about nine o'clock, the manager saw some other men hanging around the town square unemployed. 4 He told them to go to work in his vineyard and he would pay them a fair wage. 5 They went. "He did the same thing at noon, and again at three o'clock. 6 At five o'clock he went back and found still others standing around. He said, 'Why are you standing around all day doing nothing? 7' "They said, 'Because no one hired us.' "He told them to go to work in his vineyard. 8" When the day's work was over, the owner of the vineyard instructed his foreman, 'Call the workers in and pay them their wages. Start with the last hired and go on to the first.' 9 "Those hired at five o'clock came up and were each given a dollar. 10 When those who were hired first saw that, they assumed they would get far more. But they got the same, each of them one dollar. 11 Taking the dollar, they groused angrily to the manager, 12 'These last workers put in only one easy hour, and you just made them equal to us, who slaved all day under a scorching sun.' 13" He replied to the one speaking for the rest, 'Friend, I haven't been unfair. We agreed on the wage of a dollar, didn't we? 14 So take it and go. I decided to give to the one who came last the same as you. 15 Can't I do what I want with my own money? Are you going to get stingy because I am generous?' 16 "Here it is again, the Great Reversal: many of the first ending up last, and the last first."

Food for thought!

Today's gospel reading is puzzling in many ways. It shows us clearly that God's ways are not our ways. As Isaiah tells us, the Heavens are as high above earth as God's ways are above our ways; God's thoughts are simply not our thoughts (55:9). Why would the Master not pay the workers according to the work done? Why did the farm owner not take into consideration the volume of work done or the scorching sun? What is it that Jesus is teaching us this time? Many things.

Jesus is teaching us about God. He is saying that God loves and cares for all of us. God doesn't want to see us idle, unemployed and unproductive. He pays us not according to what we have done, but according to what he has done; not according to what we are but according to what he is. This is why, I believe, at the last day there will be surprises. One surprise will be to see rewarded all the people we thought not to deserve the reward; people we despised for their life and living. The other surprise will be not to see as rewarded the people we thought were reward-able. In the end, we shall all be saved by God's grace and not by our works. "God saved you through faith as an act of kindness. You had nothing to do with it. Being saved is a gift from God." (Eph. 2:8)

Jesus is teaching us about the generosity of God. The workers did not all do the same work; but they all did receive the same pay. There are two great lessons here. The first is, as it has been said, "All service ranks the same with God." A priest will not get more than a faithful married couple or a single man or woman. And the married couples will not get more than the bishop. They'll all get heaven. It is not the amount or kind of service done, but the love in which it is done which matters. That is why we all must do what we do with love and love what we do. 

Here is the golden rules which will help you: “Loving what you do is Happiness Doing what you love is freedom” So, If you don’t have freedom to do whatever you want, then at least try to love whatever your are doing. While you wait for that perfect life, perfect living and perfect job, which you are dreaming for, don’t feel dissatisfied with the current situation. Accept the situation with patience. Set your eyes high on your goals and get solace from the fact that you are trying your best to achieve your dream. Meanwhile accept your situation. Be in harmony with your surroundings. Maintain peaceful relationship with your family, with your work and with your life. 

Jesus is also teaching us about work and workers. As St. Paul advised us: "whatever you do, do everything for God's glory" (1Cor 10:31). It means that a Christian works not just for money but for the Lord. Money is additional, not principal. That is why the first will be last and the last will be first. Don't work just for money, that's too little; see your work, your profession, your job as a service to the Lord and to the Lord's people. And if and when you do it passionately well, you will additionally get money. Lots of money.

Remember these words of Jesus everyday as you go to your work or as you work: "I tell you the truth, when you did it to one of the least of these my brothers and sisters, you were doing it to me!" (Mt 25:40)

LISTEN. THINK. ACT!

Luke 8:4-15

One day he gave this illustration to a large crowd that was gathering to hear him—while many others were still on the way, coming from other towns.

“A farmer went out to his field to sow grain. As he scattered the seed on the ground, some of it fell on a footpath and was trampled on; and the birds came and ate it as it lay exposed. Other seed fell on shallow soil with rock beneath. This seed began to grow, but soon withered and died for lack of moisture. Other seed landed in thistle patches, and the young grain stalks were soon choked out. Still other fell on fertile soil; this seed grew and produced a crop one hundred times as large as he had planted.” (As he was giving this illustration he said, “If anyone has listening ears, use them now!”)

His apostles asked him what the story meant.

He replied, “God has granted you to know the meaning of these parables, for they tell a great deal about the Kingdom of God. But these crowds hear the words and do not understand, just as the ancient prophets predicted.

“This is its meaning: The seed is God’s message to men. The hard path where some seed fell represents the hard hearts of those who hear the words of God, but then the devil comes and steals the words away and prevents people from believing and being saved. The stony ground represents those who enjoy listening to sermons, but somehow the message never really gets through to them and doesn’t take root and grow. They know the message is true, and sort of believe for a while; but when the hot winds of persecution blow, they lose interest. The seed among the thorns represents those who listen and believe God’s words but whose faith afterwards is choked out by worry and riches and the responsibilities and pleasures of life. And so they are never able to help anyone else to believe the Good News.

“But the good soil represents honest, good-hearted people. They listen to God’s words and cling to them and steadily spread them to others who also soon believe.”

Food for thought!

This parable reminds us that the fate of the word of God depends on the head into which it is sown. The hard path represents the shut head, which refuses to take it in. The shallow ground represents the head that accepts the word but never thinks it out and never realizes its consequences. The thorny ground stands for the head that is so busy to think of the things of God. The good ground stands for the good head. The good head does three things. First, it listens attentively. Second, it thinks over it until it discovers its meaning. Third, it acts upon the findings. 

There is an old saying that God put on our heads two ears and one mouth so we may listen more and talk less. It means that God expects us to listen, think and act out the word. As Moreland noted: "Many people today, including many Christians, simply do not read or think deeply at all. And when believers do read, they tend to browse self-help books or other literature that is not intellectually engaging."

Jill Ammon-Wexler once said that our mind is like a muscle. If it is not exercised regularly and strenuously, it loses some of its capacities and strength. Did you know that PEOPLE WHO ARE SUCCESSFUL in their personal and business lives all share one common secret – they’ve learned to use their brain to focus on a desired goal regardless of what’s going on around them. They have developed a refined ability to single-task, rather than multi-task. This is what Jesus is saying in the Gospel reading of today: They listen to God’s words and cling to them.

Any positive life change must begin with an improvement in our ability to cling to the Word of God. As Jesus said, those who score 100% are the people that cling to the Word of God by engaging in thinking. So, everyday, find time to think, just as you have already time to eat, sleep, watch TV, etc. You can use the daily "Food for thought" to jump start your daily thinking.  

Let’s face it – our brain is our ultimate success tool. Literally everything we are, dream, say and do all starts in the same place – our head. All creativity, personal power, and success starts there. And WE alone make the choice to develop, or overlook, our brain’s staggering potential. We can all use our head to LISTEN. THINK. ACT!

As well as certain women!

Luke 8:1-3

After that, Jesus travelled through the country, town by town, and village by village, preaching the good news of the kingdom of God. The Twelve were with him, as well as certain women, who had been cured from evil spirits and from illnesses. There was Mary, who is called Mary Magdalene, out of whom there went seven devils, and Joanna, the wife of Chuza, who was Herod's agent, and Susanna and many others. It was their habit to minister to their needs out of their resources.

Food for thought!

Today's gospel reading is especially special. It reminds us that women played a prominent part role in the life of the Jesus. It shows us Jesus on the road. The synagogues are no longer open to him, as once they had been. He had begun, as it were, in the church, where any man with a message from God usually begins hoping to find a responsive and receptive audience. 

Instead of a welcome, Jesus found opposition and even persecution; instead of eager listeners he found the scribes and Pharisees bleakly waiting to catch him out on every word he said. Fed up with the ecclesiastics of his time, Jesus has now taken the matter into his own hands: he now has taken his ministry to the open road and to the hillside and to the lake shore: "Jesus travelled through the country, town by town, and village by village, preaching the good news of the kingdom of God."

And Jesus is not alone. Besides men, this passage lists a little group of women who have dared to join Jesus, come what may. The gospel says that these women have even committed their resources to his ministry. These women are saying, Jesus must win! Jesus cannot and will not fail; we shall help him; we shall follow him wherever he goes; we shall support him; we shall not abandon him. His fate is our fate. His cause is our cause. Please note that the service of these grateful women was permanent during the whole of our Lord’s wandering life after his leaving the synagogue.

The women' help was practical. Being women, at that time as like today, they would not be allowed to preach; but they gave the gifts they had. They helped Jesus in his ministry. Yes, in the company of every great man, there is a great woman. Even in the company of Jesus there were great women. 

It is not always the person in the foreground who is doing the greatest work. Many a man could hardly survive one week without the help of a woman in his company! Many women today are in the background, unseen but essential to us men. GOD knows us that is whay he said, "It's not good for the Man to be alone; I'll make him a helper, a companion." (Gen. 2:18).

Thank God, none of us will judge any of us!

Luke 7:36-50

36 One of the Pharisees asked him over for a meal. He went to the Pharisee's house and sat down at the dinner table. 37 Just then a woman of the village, the town harlot, having learned that Jesus was a guest in the home of the Pharisee, came with a bottle of very expensive perfume 38 and stood at his feet, weeping, raining tears on his feet. Letting down her hair, she dried his feet, kissed them, and anointed them with the perfume. 39 When the Pharisee who had invited him saw this, he said to himself, "If this man was the prophet I thought he was, he would have known what kind of woman this is who is falling all over him." 40 Jesus said to him, "Simon, I have something to tell you." "Oh? Tell me." 41 "Two men were in debt to a banker. One owed five hundred silver pieces, the other fifty. 42 Neither of them could pay up, and so the banker cancelled both debts. Which of the two would be more grateful?" 43 Simon answered, "I suppose the one who was forgiven the most." "That's right," said Jesus. 44 Then turning to the woman, but speaking to Simon, he said, "Do you see this woman? I came to your home; you provided no water for my feet, but she rained tears on my feet and dried them with her hair. 45 You gave me no greeting, but from the time I arrived she hasn't quit kissing my feet. 46 You provided nothing for freshening up, but she has soothed my feet with perfume. 47 Impressive, isn't it? She was forgiven many, many sins, and so she is very, very grateful. If the forgiveness is minimal, the gratitude is minimal." 48 Then he spoke to her: "I forgive your sins." 49 That set the dinner guests talking behind his back: "Who does he think he is, forgiving sins!" 50 He ignored them and said to the woman, "Your faith has saved you. Go in peace."

Food for thought

How much extravagant are you with Jesus? How much are you ready to do for love of Jesus? Look at this woman's extravagancy. She took the most precious thing she possessed and spent it all on Jesus. Love is not love if it calculates the cost. Love gives its all and its only regret is that it has not still more to give. What is most expensive to you?

"She was forgiven many, many sins, and so she is very, very grateful. This is the verdict that Jesus made of the woman!" GRATEFULNESS!

Do you awaken every morning with a song of praise on your lips? Do you feel full of appreciation for life as you live it every day? Or, do you have to think long and hard before finding something to be grateful for? Someone once said, “A grateful mind is a great mind which eventually attracts to itself great things.” An old adage states that “where your attention goes, your energy flows.” This means we tend to attract that to which we give our attention. The more good you can see and praise, the more you direct creative energy to positive results. So, practice waking up each day with an inherent expectation of good and with a wonderful feeling of thanksgiving for life itself. Your days will be filled with exciting adventures.

Be like Jesus. Even in situations that at first appear difficult or unpleasant, see all the good you can and bless the good you can see! Focus on the good and watch it multiply. While the Pharisee was seeing evil in the woman's act, Jesus was seeing goodness: "When the Pharisee who had invited him saw this, he said to himself, 'If this man was the prophet I thought he was, he would have known what kind of woman this is who is falling all over him.'" Jesus on the other hand said: "Do you see this woman? I came to your home; you provided no water for my feet, but she rained tears on my feet and dried them with her hair. 45 You gave me no greeting, but from the time I arrived she hasn't quit kissing my feet. 46 You provided nothing for freshening up, but she has soothed my feet with perfume. 47 Impressive, isn't it?"

Some people are like the Pharisee; they only see evil in others' acts. But at the end of the day, who can and does judge all is Jesus, not man. It is only Jesus who will judge all of us. None of us will judge any of us. Thank God.

Jesus came eating and drinking!

Luke 7:31-35

Jesus said: “What can I say about such men?” Jesus asked. “With what shall I compare them? They are like a group of children who complain to their friends, ‘You don’t like it if we play “wedding” and you don’t like it if we play “funeral”!’ For John the Baptist used to go without food and never took a drop of liquor all his life, and you said, ‘He must be crazy!’ But I eat my food and drink my wine, and you say, ‘What a glutton Jesus is! And he drinks! And has the lowest sort of friends!’ But I am sure you can always justify your inconsistencies.”

Food for thought!

Jesus very rarely comments on the defamation his enemies made about him. Today, however, he tells us one of the defamations and accusations his enemies made against him: "What a glutton Jesus is! And he drinks! And has the lowest sort of friends!" So why does Jesus tell us what they told him?

To tell us that if the message is unwelcome, nothing that the messenger can say or do will be right; that if some people dislike you, nothing you do pleases them; that always there will be people who dislike us and everything we do, good or not. Enemies know how to twist the good we do to something evil. Jesus came eating and drinking (which is fine) and they twisted it to: "What a glutton Jesus is! And he drinks! And has the lowest sort of friends!"

They did the same with John the Baptist. He "used to go without food and never took a drop of liquor all his life" (which is fine) and they called him crazy. Next time someone twists around your good acts or words, remember that they did likewise to Jesus and John the Baptist. Remember what St. Peter reminds us about Jesus: "When he was insulted, he did not retaliate. When he suffered, he did not threaten. It was his habit to commit the matter to the one who judges fairly." (1 Peter 2:23)

Before we go, let us note something good about Jesus: he feasted, eating food a drinking wine. Don't be ashamed of eating and drinking because whatever Jesus did his servants can do, in the same spirit and in the same manner. That is why Jesus told and tells us everyday: ‘Do this in remembrance of Me.’

He blessed infancy when he lay an infant in his mother’s arms; he blessed childhood when, as a boy, he was obedient to his parents; he hallowed youth during all those years of quiet seclusion and unnoticed service in Nazareth; He blessed every part of human life and experience by bearing it. Love is consecrated because le loved; tears are sacred because he wept; life is worship, or may be made so, because he passed through it; and death itself is ennobled and sanctified because he has died.

"Therefore, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do everything for the glory of God." (1 Corinthians 10:31)

From hopelessness to Hopefulness!

Luke 7:11-17

11 Not long after that, Jesus went to the village Nain. His disciples were with him, along with quite a large crowd. 12 As they approached the village gate, they met a funeral procession-- a woman's only son was being carried out for burial. And the mother was a widow. 13 When Jesus saw her, his heart broke. He said to her, "Don't cry." 14 Then he went over and touched the coffin. The pallbearers stopped. He said, "Young man, I tell you: Get up." 15 The dead son sat up and began talking. Jesus presented him to his mother. 16 They all realized they were in a place of holy mystery, that God was at work among them. They were quietly worshipful-- and then noisily grateful, calling out among themselves, "God is back, looking to the needs of his people!" 17 The news of Jesus spread all through the country.

Food for thought!

It comes with little or no warning. It grips you before you ever know you’re within its grasp. It shows up like an uninvited guest. Without you knowing it, it schedules an appointment in your life; there’s no warning signal, no phone call, and no note left on the kitchen table. Night falls just like any other night, and the sun rises just like every other morning, but hopelessness closes in unexpectedly, and you’re not sure you’ll make it through the day.

Hopelessness arrives at the most inopportune moments. It doesn’t care that you’ve got a job to go to or bills to pay. It doesn’t appear to matter that your health is failing, relationships are falling apart, or you’re in too much pain to even pray. It doesn’t seem to mind that you’re already drowning in despair, as you struggle through the troubles of life. Hopelessness comes when you least expect it. 

Hopelessness does not mind if you are already in problems. It came to the woman who was already a widow. Here is a woman who had already lost her husband. The only things remaining from her marriage are a few memories and the only son that she and her husband brought into the world. Now, her precious son has been taken away by death, as well.

We are told that the victim is a young man, whose life had been filled with great potential. He might have had hopes of marriage and of fathering children, but now he is dead. There may have been plans of going into business to support himself and his widowed mother, but now he is dead. Those eyes which had been bright with the gleam of youth are now dulled by death. That mind that had hoped and dreamed was now stilled by the cold embrace of death. That voice that had laughed and cried has been silenced forever. Death has come and it has brought with it all the hopelessness it possesses. 

That is before Jesus showed up!

Life before Jesus is called B.C.! This life is a hopeless life and living. It was so for the three recorded people that Jesus raised from the dead. One had just died (Luke 8:40-56); the second is this one of today's gospel, who was being carried to be buried; the third is Lazarus that had been in the tomb four days (Jn 11:1-44). What is noteworthy about all of the three, is the moment Jesus met them: one had just died; another was already dead and on the way to the cemetery; the last was dead and already buried in the cemetery for four days. As you know, all of them were brought back to life and to living. 

It means that for Jesus it is never too late. With Jesus, we can rise up from where we have fallen, regardless of when. If and when we fall into sin, into hopelessness, into helplessness, into confusion, into desperation, into betrayal, Jesus can bring us back to normality of life and living, regardless of the time. It means that never lose hope in Jesus; with Jesus never write yourself or anybody off. You are never too dead of anything to rise up again. There's no sin, no state Jesus cannot rescue us from. If he made us from dust of the earth (Gen 2:7), he can for sure raise us again from the same dust on the last day (1Cor 6:14). To him be praise and honour and glory, both for now and for ever. Amen.

A friend in need is a friend indeed!

John 19:25-27

"But his mother, and his mother's sister, and Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary from Magdala, stood near the Cross of Jesus. So Jesus saw his mother, and he saw the disciple whom he loved standing by, and he said to his mother: `Woman! See! Your son.' Then he said to the disciple: `See! Your mother!' And from that hour the disciple took her into his own home."

Food for thought!

The feast we celebrate today, Our Lady of Sorrows, reminds us that at the end of his life, Jesus was not alone. At his Cross there were these four brave women who loved him. It was always a dangerous thing to be an associate of a man whom the Roman government believed to be so dangerous that he deserved a Cross. It is always a dangerous thing to demonstrate one's love for someone whom the orthodox regard as a heretic. The presence of these women at the Cross was not due to the fact that they were so unimportant that no one would notice them; their presence was due to the fact that perfect love casts out fear. Is this not the reason that of men, there remained ONLY the disciple "whom he loved"? Indeed, only those who love us can stand by us until the end! And only those who stand by us in all circumstances do love us. A friend in need is a friend indeed!

The women at the cross of Jesus are a strange company. Of one, Mary the wife of Clopas, we know nothing; but we know something of the other three. 

(i) There was Mary, Jesus' mother. Maybe she could not understand, but she could love. Her presence there was the most natural thing in the world for a mother. Jesus might be a criminal in the eyes of the law, but he was her beloved son. The same with us: your loved one may be many bad things to many people but s/he is your honey.

(ii) There was Jesus' mother's sister. In  the gospel according to John she is not named, but a study of the parallel passages (Mk.15:40; Matt.27:56) makes it quite clear that she was Salome, the mother of James and John. The strange thing about her is that she had received from Jesus a reprimand or reproach when she came to Jesus to ask him to give her sons the chief place in his kingdom (Matt.20:20), and Jesus had taught her how wrong such ambitious thoughts were.  Despite all this reproach, she is now at the Cross. Her presence says much for her and for Jesus. It shows that she had the humility to accept rebuke from Jesus and continue to love him with undiminished devotion.

(iii) There was Mary from Magdala. All we know about her is that out of her Jesus cast seven devils (Mk.16:9; Lk.8:2). She could never forget what Jesus had done for her. His love had rescued her, and her love was such that it could never die. Mary knew Psalm 78 that says "Do not forget the works of the Lord!" You and I have seen God work miracles in our own lives, yet we so easily forget them. Jesus simply says, “Don’t you remember at all?” (Matthew 16: 9)

As Cherie Hill reminds us : Let us not forget, whatever our storm is, whatever our circumstances might be, there is no situation that is too difficult for God. We don’t need a “lifeboat”— We have a Savior that walks on water! It has been said, “You should never forget in the darkness what has been revealed to you in the light.” It is easy to have faith when God has taken you to the mountaintop, but what about when God has allowed you to wander into the valley? Will your faith be steadfast? Will you look to God when your life has been thrown into the fire?

There is something infinitely moving in the fact that Jesus in the agony of the Cross, when the salvation of the world hung in the balance, thought of the loneliness of his mother in the days ahead. Even in the moment of his cosmic battle, Jesus' attention was on others; even on the Cross, Jesus was thinking more of the sorrows of others than of his own.

For most of us, when we are suffering or going thru hard times we want the whole world to stop and attend to us; we need all the attention there is; this was not so for Jesus. In his suffering he still thought of others.

John 3:13-17

Jesus said: For only I, the Messiah, have come to earth and will return to heaven again. And as Moses in the wilderness lifted up the bronze image of a serpent on a pole, even so I must be lifted up upon a pole, so that anyone who believes in me will have eternal life. For God loved the world so much that he gave his only Son so that anyone who believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. God did not send his Son into the world to condemn it, but to save it.

Food for thought!

On 14th of September, we mark the Feast of the Holy Cross. To understand the significance of this feast, let's go back to the Old Testament. There, in the Book of Numbers, 21:4-9 we read the following:

They set out from Mount Hor along the Red Sea Road, a detour around the land of Edom. The people became irritable and cross as they traveled. 5 They spoke out against God and Moses: "Why did you drag us out of Egypt to die in this godforsaken country? No decent food; no water-- we can't stomach this stuff any longer." 6 So GOD sent poisonous snakes among the people; they bit them and many in Israel died. 7 The people came to Moses and said, "We sinned when we spoke out against GOD and you. Pray to GOD; ask him to take these snakes from us." Moses prayed for the people. 8 GOD said to Moses, "Make a snake and put it on a flagpole: Whoever is bitten and looks at it will live." 9 So Moses made a snake of fiery copper and put it on top of a flagpole. Anyone bitten by a snake who then looked at the copper snake lived.

This incident is rather puzzling in view of the fact that the Bible absolutely forbids to make and use graven images. And in this text, the Lord explicitly commands Moses to make one and present it before the people. "Make a snake and put it on a flagpole: Whoever is bitten and looks at it will live." So, what's all this about? How can we explain this and the images / statues in our churches and homes?

First and foremost, serpents don't give life; they take life away; they kill us. The same with the serpent in the reading. It was not the serpent that gave life. But as long as Moses lifted up the serpent, the people believed in him who had commanded Moses to act thus. It was God who healed them, not the serpent. The serpent served only as visual aid, as icon, as reminder. God sometimes uses serpents of problems of bring us back to him. Our storms of life bring us to the point where we realize that we have nowhere to go, but to God. This is what happened: "GOD sent poisonous snakes among the people; they bit them [...] Anyone bitten by a snake who then looked at the copper snake lived."

It means that your problem is not meant to destroy you but to bring you to your Saviour. The story of Joseph is in the Bible is a good example. He was thrown into a pit by his brothers. Now, life in the pit stinks. Yet for all its rottenness doesn’t the pit do this much? It forces you to look upward, because you cannot look anywhere else. Someone from up there must come down here and give you a hand. God did for Joseph. At the right time, in the right way, he will do the same for you.

Do you remember this story? Howard Rutledge came to appreciate his time as a POW (prisoner of war) in Vietnam. He wrote: During those long periods of enforced reflection, it became so much easier to separate the important from the trivial, the worth-while from the waste. .. My hunger for spiritual food soon outdid my hunger for a steak . . . I wanted to know about the part of me that will never die . . . I wanted to talk about God and Christ and the church . . . It took prison to show me how empty life is without God . . .

And Paul the apostle? Didn't he write his best letters from a prison cell? The letters to the Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, and Philemon were all written by the apostle Paul during his imprisonment. Our problems many be many things like a broken relationship, a shattered marriage, depression, despair, job anxiety, unemployment, financial failure, an illness, death, or some unexpected tragedy. As you battle with your problem remember that sometimes GOD sends poisonous snakes among the people and then uses the same problems to bring his people to himself.

What about Jesus? Is it not by his death that we have life? "But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was on him, and by his wounds we are healed." (Isaiah 53:5). 

What about the cross of Jesus? Is it not intended to remind us the divine principle: no cross no crown; no pain no gain? For that reason, the crucifix we carry on our chest, in our cars, homes, etc, is intended not for others to see how religious we are; it is for us to remember Jesus and the divine principle. We don't use religious images to show off, but to lift our mind and heart to the Lord. The same with wedding rings, they're reminders to the bearers of their spouse. Not carrying any ring on your finger may be a sign that you don't have a spouse. 

The holy cross of Jesus is a constant reminder of Jesus of the cross! It is a way of saying to the world: "This is how much God loved the world: He gave his Son, his one and only Son. And this is why: so that no one need be destroyed; by believing in him, anyone can have a whole and lasting life."

It's who you are, not what you say and do, that counts!

Luke 6:43-49

43 Jesus said to his disciples: "You don't get wormy apples off a healthy tree, nor good apples off a diseased tree. 44 The health of the apple tells the health of the tree. You must begin with your own life-giving lives. 45 It's who you are, not what you say and do, that counts. Your true being brims over into true words and deeds. 46" Why are you so polite with me, always saying 'Yes, sir,' and 'That's right, sir,' but never doing a thing I tell you? 47 These words I speak to you are not mere additions to your life, homeowner improvements to your standard of living. They are foundation words, words to build a life on. 48 "If you work the words into your life, you are like a smart carpenter who dug deep and laid the foundation of his house on bedrock. When the river burst its banks and crashed against the house, nothing could shake it; it was built to last. 49 But if you just use my words in Bible studies and don't work them into your life, you are like a dumb carpenter who built a house but skipped the foundation. When the swollen river came crashing in, it collapsed like a house of cards. It was a total loss."

Food for thought!

Once Benjamin Franklin said, Failing to plan is planning to fail. What he meant is what Jesus teaches us today: we need to plan ahead! And this is what the foolish builder didn't want to do. He was short-sighted. He never troubled to plan ahead and think what his chosen site would be like six months afterwards. In every decision in life there is a short view and a long view. Happy is the person who sees things, not in the light of the moment, but in the light of eternity.

When we learn that the hard way is often the best way, and that the long view is always the right view, we will found our lives upon the teaching of Jesus and no storms will ever shake them. The foolish man could not be bothered to think and dig deep into the rock. The sand was much more attractive and much less trouble. It may be easier to take our way than it is to take Jesus' way but the end is ruin; Jesus' way is the way to security here and hereafter.

An unfinished building, just as unrealized life, is always a humiliating thing. And Jesus wants to save us from such humiliation. In his book "How to Succeed", Brian Adams wrote, “Plans are guideposts to success. Success arrives by design; failure by the lack of it. Plans are the guide posts along life’s road to success; without them the road is an unsure and rocky one. Poorly devised plans will never harvest riches. Achievements can be no greater than the undertakings. If your plans are sketchy and your aims low, you can never hope to achieve high rewards."

To develop a workable plan of action, mentally visualize the things you want to accomplish. Jot them down across a sheet of paper, then list the steps necessary to accomplish your plan. When you know what you want to achieve, create a plan for getting there. Once you have a basic plan, follow through with the plan until you achieve your objectives.

Stephen Covey, author of "The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People", recommends that we “begin (planning) with the end in mind.” In other words, know what you want to achieve; what you want to be, and then move backwards to what it takes to have what you want. Whether it is a special project or a simple daily routine, begin by setting a goal that takes into account the steps needed to reach it.

And once you have set a (noble) goal, don't give up before you achieve it; be ready to sacrifice anything in order to get it. In other words, if you're not willing to pay the price, then you won't get the prize. There is no prize without a price. Behind everything we want in life, behind every achievement, there's a cost to pay; there's a struggle, a cross. Without the cross there's no salvation; without pain there is no gain. Remember, “failing to plan is planning to fail.”