Today’s readings:
Acts 11:1-18
Psalm 42:2-4
John 10:1-10
As we are all creatures made by God, and in particular human beings with a soul, there is something innate within us that hungers for God our Creator. “My soul thirsts for God, the living God.” (Ps 42:3a). A good image for this thirst is that of deer thirsting for water. “As the deer longs for streams of water, so my soul longs for you, O God.” (Ps 42:2). Thirsting for water just comes naturally to the deer. Whether one knows it or not, whether the human mind thinks about it or not, whether one realizes the need for God or not, the soul within us thirsts for God.
And for one who does know God cognitively, there is that hunger to be with Him. And that hunger and thirst is not just to commune with God in this life, but in the life hereafter. “When can I enter and see the face of God?” (Ps 42:3b).
But many are the troubles of a person today. “My tears have been my bread day and night” (P 42:4a). We live in a valley of tears. All the more then, we should long to be in that place where there are no more tears or pain, and that is heaven.
How do we get there? We get to heaven only in and through Jesus. Jesus the Good Shepherd says, “I am the gate. Whoever enters through me will be saved” (Jn 10:9a). Jesus is the only true gate. Salvation is only in Jesus.
How do we get to meet and know Jesus, the only Savior? This happens as others share Christ to us and speak about the good news of salvation in him. They are those “who will speak words to you by which you and all your household will be saved.” (Acts 11:14). And when people respond to the gospel message, and when “God has then granted life-giving repentance to” them (Acts 11:18b), then they “will be baptized with the holy Spirit.” (Acts 11:16b). This then is the great import work of witness to Christ, of evangelizers, of missionaries.
Many people, even those who are Christians, have given in to the desires of their fallen flesh and their secular minds. Many who face great difficulties begin to even question God. “Where is your God?” (Ps 42:4b). They need to truly meet Christ and know the power of his resurrection. Then they can endure the challenges of life, as they look to the life that is to come. Jesus the one Savior, the one gate, has said, “I came so that they might have life and have it more abundantly.” (Jn 10:10b). Abundant life in this world, and especially in the next.
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