Rev.
Fr. Emmanuel Emenike Onyia.
CHOSE
THIS DAY WHOM YOU WILL SERVE: THE LIVING GOD OR THINGS THAT HAVE MADE
THEMSELVES GOD?
What
determines our attitude and behaviour in life is our fundamental option, which
has to do with our choice for or against God. This is a choice we make
consciously or unconsciously that guides and shape our lives. Knowing the
importance of this choice, Joshua in our first reading had to make this option
for himself and his family and also encouraging others to do the same when he
said to the people of Israel "choose this day whom you will serve... but
as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord".
The
choice for God is a choice for love, and a life of love is a sacrificial life
neither easy nor comfortable. A kind of choice made by the people of Israel who
said to Joshua: we have no intention of
deserting the Lord and serving other gods! Was it not the Lord our God who
brought us and our ancestors out of the land of Egypt, the house of slavery,
who worked those great wonders before our eyes and preserved us all along the way
we travelled and among all the peoples through whom we journeyed? What is more,
the Lord drove all those peoples out before us, as well as the Amorites who
used to live in this country. We too will serve the Lord, for he is our God.’ What a great Choice and lesson for us.
This tells
us that we need to learn how to make a fundamental choice for God above all
other things. This is important because most people are making wrong choices as
a result of their too much attachment to the passing things of this world. Most
people have made gods out of the material things of this world. And they want
other people to join them to worship these material gods. For this reason most people
are finding it difficult to listen to what God is saying to them, because the
gods of the things of this passing world are looking very captivating but behind
them are destruction and disaster.
Dear friends, today we are required to chose whom
we will serve: the living God or the gods of the things of this passing world. Let
us chose the living God by identifying ourselves with Christ who is full of
love, goodness and holiness and so build a good relationship with others. We
must learn to sacrifice in humility just like Jesus who loves little children
and care about them.
Little
wonder Jesus said in our Gospel passage today: ‘Let the little children alone,
and do not stop them coming to me; for it is to such as these that the kingdom
of heaven belongs.’ So, Jesus appreciate it when in childlike humility we make
the fundamental option to serve God and to sacrifice for the good of others,
for we are called to taste and see that the Lord is good.
LET US
PRAY: Lord God, we are called today to choose whom we will serve. As we make
this fundamental option to serve you, help us to live by this option all the
days of our lives. We ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen. It's another
weekend, may the Holy Spirit guide and direct our activities.
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