15 June 2017
“Amen, I say to you, you will not be released until you have
paid the last penny.” What Jesus says
here sounds like a condemnation, or at least a threat—but not really. He’s simply taking a particular decision
somebody might make and carrying it out to its natural conclusion. Basically, Jesus is just pointing out the
fact that: “If you choose to do this, this is how it’s going to turn out.”
“If you choose not to be reconciled with your brothers and
sisters, and you take your grievance to other humans for judgment on the
matter, the result is going to be worse than if you had just reconciled with
your brother or sister in the first place.”
Humans judge each other much more harshly than God ever would. But the choice is yours, Jesus says.
Every day, and every moment of every day, God gives us the
freedom to make choices. As Moses says
in Deuteronomy (30:19): “I have set before you life and death, the blessing and
the curse.” So choose (keeping in mind
that every choice has its result). And St.
Paul gives some guidance on this. He
says, “Now the Lord is the Spirit and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is
freedom,” there is life.
In other words, if you want to choose life and blessings,
then turn to the Spirit of God; let the Holy Spirit be our guide in the ways of
God: reconciliation, kindness, and humility.
But if you want to choose death and a cursed life, then just follow the
ways of the world; the ways of unforgiveness, judgment, pride, and so on.
“I have set before you life and death, the blessing and the
curse,” God says. And all of heaven
says, “Choose life! Be a friend of God!” But, of course, the choice is ours. Every day, the choice is ours, and it has to
be made.
Again, as St. Paul says, “Where the Spirit of the Lord is,
there is freedom;” there is life. We’re
here at the start of yet another new day.
And, as always, God puts before us the choice: to live as his friends,
his disciples, with his Spirit in us, lifting us up; or to live as merely his
acquaintances, with some other spirit guiding us, dragging us down.
We’re here at the start of another new day. And God turns to us, waiting. So, are we going to go with him, into life
and freedom today? Or not?
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