Wednesday, August 26, 2020
the narrow door . . .
The Self-Will of the Simple
Now they must eat the fruit of their own way, and with their own devices be glutted. For the self-will of the simple kills them, the smugness of fools destroys them. But the one who obeys me dwells in security, in peace, without fear of harm.
We delude ourselves when we look to God for mercy without justice for God tells us repeatedly through the prophets, and God tells us again through Jesus that the way we must follow is narrow. God tells us that we must do more than believe. We must act.
God says: Strive to enter through the narrow gate, for many, I tell you, will attempt to enter but will not be strong enough. After the master of the house has arisen and locked the door, then will you stand outside knocking and saying, “Lord, open the door for us”. He will say to you in reply, “I do not know where you are from”. And you will say, “We ate and drank in your company and you taught in our streets”. Then he will say to you, “I do not know where you are from”. (Luke 13:22-27)
We put off conversion thinking that there are many days ahead when we can change our ways, and so there may be. We delay transformation thinking that God understands our intent and forgives our close-mindedness. We postpone coming to fully know God, thinking that it is enough to eat at the table of the Lord, thinking that the Lord does not mind our lukewarm response to the call of the Gospel. In all of this thinking we see ourselves giving over to the self-will of the simple.
For another reflection on the narrow way of God, click on The Narrow Gate tab on this blog, or click on the image and go to: http://dailywalkheavenwards.blogspot.com/2011/10/narrow-door.html
The Noontimes 