Easter Meditation

Book 3 Chapter 13: On Humble Obedience after the Example of Our Lord, Jesus Christ

“They who try to withdraw themselves from obedience withdraw themselves from grace.”

I think the statement above sums up the primary issue with society today.  How many times have you heard it said, “The church needs to change it position on …”?  We want God to change because we are not willing to be obedient to His teachings.  We want to seek out our own rules and not the rules of God which have been laid out for us for centuries.  If we do not “freely and willingly submit” ourselves to God, we are telling God that we do not belong to Him, but to this world.  We are telling Him that we are rebellious to His teachings and that He who created us does not know what is best for us.  We must realize that our inner self, our interior soul, is stronger than our outward worldly desires.  The outside world is constantly doing battle with our interior self, trying to convince us that we do not need to be obedient to God.  We must not let the outside overrule the interior.  In this battle, your worst enemy is yourself.  Satan convinces you that you are in charge and that it is your will that rules.  For us to prevail over our own desires, we must learn “true contempt” of ourselves and put all of our trust in God.  We must learn to accept His will.  This does not mean that we will not struggle with His teachings, but it is in the struggle that we become closer to God and His ways. It is in the struggle that His light will shine through.  We must realize that God created us in His image and likeness.  Therefore, it is God who knows what is best and how we should live our lives.  Satan has convinced us that we are created in our own image and likeness and that we must only do what pleases us.  We must realize that we were created from the dust of this earth and it is God who breathed life into us.  When we die, we will return to ashes from which we came.  It is only through our obedience to God’s will that our soul will enter into the kingdom of Heaven.  We must not allow pride to be the rule of life.  We must set humility as our foundational cornerstone.  We must learn to be submissive to His will.  We must take joy in the fact that people rebuke us and walk all over us for this is what we do to God when we sin against Him.  This allows us to realize just how much our sinfulness hurts God. But most importantly, we must realize that we have the most merciful God who is willing to spare our soul “so that we might know His great love for us.” All you have to do is be willing to submit and humble yourself before Him.

A Simple Prayer

Make me a servant of your love, so that I may serve you through service to others.

Make me a slave to your will, so that I may rest in you all the days of my life.

Yours in Christ

Michael Marcon