BE COMMITTED TO GOD’S LAWS
(Ecclesiasticus 15: 15-20, Ps 119, 1 Cor 2:6-10, Matt 5:17-37)
Beloved in Christ, the Lord God gave His commandments to the people of Israel after the formation of the nation. As His chosen people, they were expected to keep to His commandments, whiles He also keep to His promise as their God. This was the covenant He had with them, that they remain faithful to His laws, then He will also continue to be their God. Of course, God doesn’t need their faithfulness to be their God, because He is always faithful to His promises no matter the circumstances. We are equally also invited to remain committed to these laws of God. We cannot claim to be children of God if we always want to follow our own human desires. His statutes are meant to be followed but not to be disobeyed. And we are equally expected to champion these laws. In other words, we are to help others to follow these laws, but not to lead them from these laws.
The first reading from Sirach or Ecclesiasticus teaches that we are free but we are accountable for our actions. According to the writer, God doesn’t force us to follow His laws. It is a choice that we have to make individually, to follow Him or not. In other words, every individual can choose to worship Him or not. But whichever path we take, there are consequences. According to the writer, the Lord has placed before us fire and water, life and death, good and evil. But he encourages his readers and listeners to choose the path of the Lord. Because God is faithful to those who fear Him. The Lord is closer to those who are faithful to His commandments. Just like Ben- Sirach, Moses also made it known to the Israelites that life is a matter of choice (Deut. 30:11-20). But he encouraged them to choose the path of God and abandon the world. Those who follow the Lord receive blessings but curses follow those who choose the opposite direction. To choose to follow the Lord means we are on the path of attaining eternal salvation, but to follow the world will lead us to eternal damnation.
The gospel reading is a continuation of Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount. The fact of teaching what His would-be followers are expected to do. He reminded them that they are to hold in high esteem the laws of God and the teachings of the prophets. He came to lay more emphasizes on the laws of God. We as His followers are to promote these laws in whichever place we find ourselves. Failure to do this will bring condemnation upon our lives. He brings out details of the law which has been neglected by the Pharisees and the teachers of the law. Some of the concrete things he points out are: avoiding deadly anger and dehumanising insults, seeking reconciliation all the time, avoiding all forms of lust, avoiding all temptations which will lead us to sin, and not leading people to commit adultery and fornication. These are the things the Lord expects His followers to do in order to keep His commandments.
My dear friends, all these concrete ways of living out our lives as Christians are based on the choices we make in life. The kind of choice we make determine our attitudes, and our attitudes define us. But our choices are influenced by our conscience. A weak conscience easily chooses the way of the world such as adultery, fornication, unforgiveness, stealing, cheating, fighting, gossip, lying and so forth. We need to develop a strong conscience which demands a strong relationship with the Lord. We can fall in love with the Lord if we are strong in prayer and His word. It means that daily meditation on His word and a strong prayer life is very necessary for every child of God. We need a personal relationship with the Lord. In fact, this is what most of us are lacking. We do not have this personal touch with the Lord, hence we are not growing in the virtues of the Lord. Our lives are not promoting the commandments of God, because we are not strong in the Lord. We can only be strong in the Lord and live out authentic Christian lives if we deepen our personal relationship with Him. In this way, we are strengthened every day by Jesus to be His messengers in the world.
My dear friends, the world truly need credible witnesses and not eloquent preachers. In fact, people are fed up with the lots of preaching. Because those who are talking and preaching these messages are not living them. We preach what we don’t practise. But people wants us to walk the talk. They want to read the bible from our way of living. We must not fail to be the signpost to Jesus through our good living.
We should remember that our fate will be determined by the kind of life we live on this earth. If we obey His laws and guide others to do likewise, then eternal life is ours. But if not then we are going to perish in hell. We should choose God and not the world. May the Holy Spirit help us to be faithful to the commandments of God. AMEN.
Choose god . promote god’s laws. Develop a strong conscience !!!
Have a blessed Sunday AND A FAVORED week ahead!! .
REV. FR. Akakpo Matthew
