In a world
where the vast majority of people are purportedly followers of Christ
(including myself) who came and died for us that we may have life in abundance
(Jn.10:10) hence “consumatum est” (it is fulfilled/finished; Jn.19:30) was
finally declared by the Son of God, he breathed his last and to confirm that He
was truly the Son of GOD nature applauded his brevity (only those who persevere
to the end will be saved) thus ‘and suddenly, the veil of the Sanctuary was
torn in two from top to bottom, the earth quaked, the rocks were split, the
tombs opened and the bodies of many people rose from the dead and these after
his resurrection came out of the tombs entered the holy city and appeared to a
number of people’ {Mtt.27:51-53}. Then what is the reason for man’s inhumanity
on the other?
Majority of
the parents, priests, preachers, teachers, friends, colleagues e.t.c go ahead
bombarding us with every other teaching about GOD (Deut.11:18-21) while leaving
out the most important and the basic building block for true followership; THE FEAR OF GOD (“The fear of The Lord
is the beginning of knowledge; fools spurn wisdom and discipline” Prov.1:7) as
well as the retributive justice of GOD (‘No sinner will go unpunished’) rather
we blame, magnify and glorify satan for accidents, problems, our misbehaviors
e.t.c from a subtle snake (Gen.3:1) to a dragon (Rev.12:3) hence accruing glory
to the fear of the devil than the FEAR OF GOD which makes people believe satan
can take away human life while the scripture stated “The Lord gives death and
life, brings down to sheol and draws up” (1 Sam.2:6).
It is the GOD
of Justice (‘we are well aware that people who behave like that are justly
condemned by God’ Rom.2:2) whose temple (1 Cor.3:16) we are that punishes us
(“There is no peace for the wicked” Isaiah 48:22) when we defile our bodies
(‘if anybody should destroy the temple of God, God will destroy that person
because God’s temple is holy and you are that temple’ 1 Cor.3:17) hence we
suffer the beatings from the conscience and deduce the mishaps of our present
predicaments as the results of our past lifestyles that were in opposition to GOD’s
glory (1 Cor.10:31).
The
opposition to GOD’s glory is evil (the devil [1 Pet.5:8-9]) and evil is real on
earth (“…but for you earth and sea, disaster is coming because the devil has
gone down to you in a rage knowing that he has little time left” Rev.12:12) but
to them that fear GOD, evil forces are negligible because “they have triumphed
over him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word to which they bore witness,
because even in the face of death they did not cling to life” {Rev.12:11}. The
fear of GOD in a man/woman makes a person ever consistent in righteousness even
in the face of death (trials and tribulations) since Jesus Christ is our
righteousness (1 Cor.1:30) who said ‘I have told you all this so that you may
find peace in me. In the world you will have hardship but be courageous I have
conquered the world’ [Jn.16:33] and he is the Jesus Christ of yesterday, today
and forever (Heb.13:8) hence whether we are in the office, inside our room, on
the road, in the school, on top of the mountain, in the darkest part of the
night/earth e.t.c where someone is watching or not (“where shall I go to escape
your spirit? Where shall I flee from your presence...?” Ps.139:7-12); we
continue to maintain our integrity with GOD (Job 27:5) bearing in mind that
there is a penalty for every act, thought and desire of man (‘I, the Lord
search the heart, test the motives to give each person what his conduct and his
actions deserve’ Jer.17:10, Gal.6:7) and “righteousness exalts a nation while
sin is a reproach to the people” {Prov.14:34}, ‘for those who aimed for glory,
honor and immortality by persevering in doing good, there will be eternal life’
[Rom.2:7]. The stubborn act of disobeying God will bring us great distress and
retribution some time, somewhere in the future thus “your stubborn refusal to
repent is only storing up retribution for yourself on that day of retribution
when God’s just verdicts will be made known” (Rom.2:5) and this referral ‘but
for those who out of jealousy have taken for their guide not truth but
injustice, there will be fury of retribution. Trouble and distress will come to
every human being who does evil…’ Rom.2:9.
Some people
misconstrue grace which was brought to our weak human nature through the death
and resurrection of Christ as license to disobeying God hence let me go and
commit fornication after I will go and confess my sins forgetting that pain and
calamity will visit any human being who deliberately does evil (Rom.2:9) after
we have been given knowledge of the truth (Heb.10:26-27) since the scripture
noted “Don’t delude yourself: God is not to be fooled; whatever someone sows,
that is what he will reap” {Gal.6:7}. The sacrament of reconciliation relieves
us from the punishment of entering the pit of hell for disobeying GOD
(Jn.20:22-23) but the justice of God we will pay with our blood to make
amendment for treating with disdain the blood of the covenant which was used to
sanctify mankind (Heb.10:29) via almsgiving, restitution, mortification,
fasting, indulgence e.t.c
The presence
of Holy Spirit in man is therefore wholly ascertained by consistency in
righteousness (‘be holy as He is holy’ 1Pet.1:16 and “those who wait on the
Lord will have their strength renewed, their wings sprout like an eagle’s;
though they run they will not be weary, though they walk they will not get
tired” Is.40:31) not via miracles, prophecy, signs and wonders, speaking in tongues
though they are good attributes of God’s children (1Cor.12:4-11). Consistency
in righteousness is brought about by the conscious awareness of the GOD of
justice in us (activation of the Fear of God in our conscious and sub-conscious
nature) which is made possible by drawing closer to GOD (James 4:7-8) via
partaking in the Holy Mass everyday (Heb.9:22), visit to the Blessed Sacrament
(Mtt.11:28-29), imploring the intercession of the saints whose prayers ascend
the throne of God like pleasing incense (Rev.5:4, 8:4) via saying the Holy
rosary and reflecting on the virtues they practiced while on earth, creating a
personal time for God in silent prayer to understand Him better (‘call on me, I
will answer you and I will teach you the secrets you know nothing about’
Jer.33:3), reading and sharing the Word of God with yourself and others
(Col.4:5), having a prayer intention for each day which reflects in all your
activities for the day (Lk.18:1) hence you keep watch over your heart with
Godly thoughts since in it lies the wellsprings of life.
The sooner we
start the process of activating the spirit of the FEAR OF GOD in us, the better
for our soul (‘but now declare the Lord come back to me with your heart
fasting, weeping, mourning. Tear your hearts and not your clothes and come back
to the lord your God… who knows if he will not come back, relent and leave a
blessing behind him’ Joel 2:12-14) because no one knows the time, place or
moment when the Son of man will come. To those who are already standing by the grace
of GOD “I am coming soon: hold firmly to what you already have and let no one
take your victor’s crown away from you” {Rev.3:11} because it is only those that persevere to the
end that will receive the crown of unfading glory [2 Tim.4:8].
No comments:
Post a Comment