“Occupied with Earthly Things” by Melanie Rigney (@melanierigney)
The Lord God took Abram outside and said, “Look up at the sky and count the stars, if you can. Just so,” he added, “shall your descendants be.” (Genesis 15:5)
The Lord is my light and my salvation. (Psalm 27:1a)
Join with others in being imitators of me, brothers and sisters, and observe those who thus conduct themselves according to the model you have in us. For many, as I have often told you and now tell you even in tears, conduct themselves as enemies of the cross of Christ. Their end is destruction. Their God is their stomach; their glory is in their "shame." Their minds are occupied with earthly things. (Philippians 3:17-19)
Then from the cloud came a voice that said, "This is my chosen Son; listen to him." (Luke 9:35)
Piety
Open my ears, Lord, that I listen to You and not those who would take me from You.
Study
It should be easy to tell the enemies of the cross of Christ, right? Think of the regimes, leaders, and individuals around the world who persecute and torture those who believe in Jesus. Think of the people who loudly deny His existence, who destroy churches, icons, crucifixes, and holy relics for sport.
Except they’re not the only ones.
We’re not even two weeks into Lent, and I’ve already kissed goodbye those plans to abstain from alcohol and coffee. I’m way behind on my pledge to write notes of support to priests and to read a Lenten resource every day. I think I’m doing all right on being less inconsiderate. I told someone, not altogether joking, that it was looking like the best I could offer up for Lent was survival.
Does that make me an enemy of the cross of Christ? I tremble in asking myself the question. While I’d like to say absolutely not, I seem to too often give more value to busyness and hyperactivity than time with Him. My focus seems to being part of the world, not on ministering to it.
We all have the potential to be enemies of the cross of Christ, either publicly or just below the surface. It takes strength and faith to clear our minds of those shiny, pretty earthly objects. It takes wisdom to know whether we’re called to provide loving correction to our brothers and sisters or to turn away from them, lest we begin to emulate their example. How do we summon up that strength, faith, and wisdom? It’s easier than we might think. We don’t need to talk to twenty friends or read twenty books. All we have to do is listen to Him, and close our ears to the world’s noise.
Action
Ask the Lord to help you clear your mind of earthly things, even if it’s just for fifteen minutes.
(Image credit: by StockSnap on Pixabay)
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