“BE OBEDIENT…NOT IN THE WAY OF EYE-SERVICE, AS MEN-PLEASERS, BUT AS SERVANTS OF CHRIST” (Eph 6:5-6)

⏰Wednesday of the Thirtieth Week of Ordinary Time 2 (31 October 2018)

📑Eph 6:1-9; Ps 145:10-11, 12-14 (R.v.13c); Luke 13:22-30

There is this song we used to sing in our primary school days as we marched from the assembly ground to our classrooms. It goes thus:

🎻If you do good,

kingdom, o-o o-o kingdom,

o-o-o kingdom waiting for you;

If you do bad,

no more kingdom, o-o o-o no more kingdom,

o-o-o no more kingdom waiting for you.

Jesus passed the same message when to the person who asked whether only a few would be saved. He said, “Strive to enter through the narrow door” (Luke 13:24). By that, he encourages us to be steadfast in righteousness. In other words, do good so that you may enter the kingdom of God.

That is not an easy venture. It needs devotion and perseverance because there would always be temptation to do otherwise. The world is full of fake alternatives especially the ones that would suggest to you that you are on the right track just because people are praising you.

That is what the Pharisees were doing. But the Lord said, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and the Pharisees, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven (Matt 5:20).

Begin now by trying not to be a rebel nor a pretender. That is the summary of St. Paul’s message to us in Eph 6:1-9. Remember that all authority comes from God (Rom 13:1). So we need to obey the voice of those in authority in all matters of right, knowing that the heart of the king is in the hand of the Lord and he directs it in whatever direction he chooses (Prov 21:1).

May our effort to follow Jesus not be corrupted by our selfish desire for vain glory. Amen.

Have a grace-filled day. Peace be with you.