The true disciple has a firm foundation. Would you agree?
matthew 7:21, 24-27
“Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father in heaven.
“Everyone who listen to these words of mine and acts on them will be like a wise man who built his house on rock. The rain fell, the floods came, and the winds blew and buffeted the house. But it did not collapse; it had been set solidly on rock. And everyone who listens to these words of mine but does not act on them will be like a fool who built his house on sand. The rain fell, the floods came, and the winds blew and buffeted the house. And it collapsed and was completely ruined.”
Lip service is the first thing I thought of when I read this. When we pray, when we praise or thank God, are we just doing it when things are going our way? When we profess how much we love the Lord, are we professing it only when life is good?
In the motorcycling community there’s a phrase that describes those who only ride when the conditions are just right. They are called fair weather riders. This Gospel got me thinking along those lines. Are we fair weather disciples?
fair weather Disciple
Do we lose faith when bad things happen? Bad things like getting a startling diagnosis, losing a loved one, losing a job or maybe even experiencing a dark night of the soul. Regardless of where we “are” – we MUST truly believe GOD IS THERE!
Is it fair to wonder where He is simply because we can’t see beyond the circumstance. Or is it fair to wonder where He is simply because we’re not getting what we want? When you were a child, did you ever wonder where your parents were simply because they didn’t give you what you wanted?
rejoice
In Rejoice! Advent Meditations with Joseph by Fr. Mark Toups, today’s reflection talks about Joseph being an obedient man. Here are a few sentences I thought hit the mark of today’s Gospel message and how Joseph is a great example of what it means to be a true disciple:
Joseph chooses God, even in the face of fear; once Joseph knew it was God speaking, his only response was “yes”; wisdom – the greek word sophia literally means “the capacity to understand and act according to wisdom;” to function according to wisdom is to be obedient; Joseph’s obedience was a response to a relationship, not yielding to a task!
To be wise is to be obedient and to be obedient is to be wise! Obedient to what? To God’s will. THAT requires us to be true disciples with a firm foundation that no circumstance or experience can rock. This wisdom we gain from obedience allows us to see God’s work unfolding. It allows us to accept our circumstances with the understanding that He is present and dynamically working in our lives.
do not fear
What do you fear? Look to Joseph as an example of what it means to be a true disciple. He experienced fear too. He was “engaged” to a woman who ends up pregnant with someone else’s child. He has some tough decisions to make but relies on his faith to steer him. He encounters situations, after Jesus’ birth, that would cause any of us maddening anxiety and yet he relied on his relationship with God to guide him.
can you relate?
Relationship is key here. In all of my recent spiritual reading I have come across a common idea – God is always pursuing us. But God is not “out there.” He’s in our hearts. So He pursues us from within. He seeks to form a deep relationship with us. He wants us to participate in His will for us. Today’s Gospel tells us this.
In order to do that we have to search within. We have to make time to be in relationship with Him. We do that in silence in order to hear God speak , just as Joseph did and this way we respond as Joseph did with a resounding YES! Let’s not be fair weather disciples but obedient and wise!
God bless you!
Click here to listen to Trisha Yearwood sing: It Wasn’t His Child
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