The word of God is living and effective…
Do you need God in your life?
Early in his reign, King Solomon recognized his need for right relationship with God. Given the chance to ask God for anything, Solomon chooses wisdom: I pleaded, and the spirit of wisdom came to me, he says in the Book of Wisdom. Indeed, nothing is as precious to Solomon as wisdom: I preferred her to scepter and throne, and deemed riches nothing in comparison with her. Solomon’s bond to wisdom establishes his bond to God; Solomon does not look elsewhere, but wisely accepts an exclusive relationship with the Lord who created him. Solomon knows that he needs, in the words of Psalm 90, wisdom of heart. The psalm is the people’s invitation for God to reenter relationship with them when their tendency has been to exclude God: May the gracious care of the Lord our God be ours!
The young man who comes to Jesus in Mark’s Gospel and asks, Good teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life? believes he has covered all bases, since he has observed all of the commandments Jesus mentions from his youth. But Jesus is clear: You are lacking in one thing. Go, sell what you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. What is missing from this man’s journey is God; it is God who gives salvation, and the man must surrender to God’s power rather than cater to his own wealth and desires. But the man does not recognize this, and goes away sad.
We often feel competent without wisdom, without constant access to God and to God’s insight into who we are. Yet, we too need God, the word of God, living and effective, as the Letter to the Hebrews says. God sees more clearly into our hearts than we can; God is able to discern reflections and thoughts of the heart. We need God’s wisdom to be in right relationship with God; we come together at Eucharist to deepen our understanding of God in our lives and in the lives of those around us. A passing, occasional relationship simply isn’t enough – we too need the wisdom of heart that allows us to see the true value of a carefully cultivated relationship with our Lord. To ask God to teach us to number our days aright is as much as to say, we see our lives before us; teach us how to live, how to continue on our journey, and all that we need to know along the way, that we might draw closer to you. Fill us with your love, O Lord, and we will sing for joy!
This post is based on Fr. Pat’s Scripture class.
Image source: www.wordclouds.com
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