Today’s Gospel from Luke 11 kind of ticks me off. I try to understand the context of what is going on and put myself into the situation and think about how I would react. I get pretty sick of the crowds that gather around Jesus because they do not have any common sense. He does miracles, heals people and cares for everyone and these people say He is from the Devil. How idiotic is that?
We have people today doing the same thing. I’m getting sick of all of you too but Jesus says I have to love you so I will, for the sake of Jesus. I will pray for you like people prayed for me when I did not believe. The people who were probably sick of me prayed for Jesus’ sake and by the grace of God, I love my Lord and Savior. That in itself is a great miracle and it did not come from Satan. That liar still tries to mess me up all the time.
I thought what Jesus said at the end of today’s Gospel is so true and I can attest to it in my life and I have to be on guard daily to stay close to Jesus and battle with the help of the Holy Spirit. Read this:
“When an unclean spirit goes out of someone, it roams through arid regions searching for rest but, finding none, it says, ‘I shall return to my home from which I came.’ But upon returning, it finds it swept clean and put in order. Then it goes and brings back seven other spirits more wicked than itself who move in and dwell there, and the last condition of that man is worse than the first.”
How many people have you heard say, after a bout with cancer, that I am cancer free? Then in time, short or long, it is back and the results are worse, even death. I think it’s like that with sin. By the grace of God, we overcome a sin. We move on in holiness but those temptations seem to come back. For me years ago, after a confession that I will remember forever, I was pretty much told that the sin I keep confessing over and over is not that big of a deal because it has become so habit forming that the church understands. What? It’s a mortal sin. I do not want a free pass to Hell. Again by the grace of God, I left that day with the desire to not sin again. And I beat that sin, or at least I thought so.
It may have been years, I do not know exactly how long but that damn sin is back and I am struggling with it. The temptation seems worse to me just like today’s Gospel said it would even though I think I am more prepared to fight. I think I have been given a great, growing faith in God and Satan is playing with me. Satan and all the fallen angels are much smarter than me and I do not have a chance to beat them. They can crush me so easily. They have no chance though against God, who created them. My only hope is in God and as St. Paul said, “it is no longer I who lives but Christ who lives in me.”
So I will keep working on myself to be the best version of a child of God that I can be. My sins have helped to screw up this world and I am not happy about my role in putting Jesus on the cross. But I can tell you that I have had a lot of help from my brothers and sisters in the world and unless we knock it off, we are going down. So all of you that do not give a %$^(, I will pray for you.
Seeking To Reflect Jesus 