Thoughts for another day

July 17, 2007

Today's verse: Mk. 7:8. For laying aside the commandment of God, ye hold the tradition of men, (KJV)
(Pls. read the above before you read further. Thanks)

As I was sitting in the Prayer Room one day, I saw a lady bring a beautiful bouquet of flowers as an offering to the Lord. She knelt down kept it near the Tabernacle and quietly slipped away. No prayer, no pause, not a word with the Lord. This started me thinking, ‘what does the Lord want of us, an offering or ourselves.’

In our prayers although, we spend time as we used to; we feel dryness. We may spend that half hour but our heart is not with the Lord. We may give tithes but again it is because God mandates us, not because we want to. Our life continues… seeped in tradition, the non-essentials, and the rituals. Talk about the waste of time in tradition and we make it seem it were sacrilegious to even utter such an allegation!

Honestly friends, what God seeks from us is love for humanity. You needn’t go and embrace everybody saying ‘brother, I love you, or sister, I care for you’; but you are to be there when somebody needs you. Tell me, is there one person in the world, other than your family members, who can say, ‘I know she is there for me’. God looks for this in us. He wants us to partake of His role in this world. It is difficult to play God, for God is so good and we are so crass, yet, it is possible, despite what people think of us to do small acts of kindness. I know of a lady who though despised by society, does small acts of charity, reaching out to people and this even though the people sometimes throw out the little things she brings them. Through her tears she told me once, ‘you know, my life is so bad. Yet, I want to change, do good to people, but when I reach out to them, they shun me.’

You and I, who seem to be so nice, do this. We shun ‘tainted’ people for the sake of our lofty traditions. I myself have time and again ignored people who are held in bad repute so that I may not be accused of anything. Ah, and then we sit before the Lord with our own list of sins… What a shame. Jesus never did it. He had the guts to say, ‘I have come to seek and save the lost.’ Today, shall we stand before God and tell him how bad we feel and seek His help in turning tradition on its head if it does not heed the cry of another human being.