|
|
Second Week of Advent - Friday
December 10, 2004
I am the Lord your God,
Who teach you what is for your good,
And lead you on the way you should go.
O that you had heeded my commandments!
Then peace would have flowed over you like a river,
And righteousness like the waves of the sea.
Isaiah 48: 17-18
The Acid Test of Love
We live in a hopelessly confused world. Every day we are bombarded by a bewildering array of disparate voices telling us what the world is all about and how we should live in it. Every issue of the day has its pollsters and its pundits. Every viewpoint has its proponents and its critics. All discourse is partisan and shrill. The calm assurance of reason is nowhere to be found. The world is a mess.
Today more than ever we need the crystal clear word of God to guide us out of the quagmire of contemporary living. Amid the moral and social dilemmas of our time, God's word shines as a beacon of clarity. It is easy to understand. We do not need to have it explained by the learned and the clever. The whole law and all the prophets are summed up in a simple and unchanging command - love God with all your heart, and love your neighbor as yourself.
Love is God's way. If we wish to be with God, we must accept love and its consequences. Love means always choosing what is good. Love of neighbor means always acting in ways that promote the genuine good of another. To live according to God's law means to submit every choice, every issue, every dilemma, to the acid test of love.
Most of us can do little to change the world, but we can do much to change ourselves. And by changing ourselves, we can change the small part of the world entrusted to us. We can ask the Lord to engrave the law of love upon our hearts, so that everything we do is inspired and guided by love. Then the beacon of love will light up the path before us, and we will set out with hope and confidence on the journey to God. We take to heart the words of the ancient prophet:
The Lord has told you what is good,
And what he requires of you:
To do what is just, and love what is good,
And walk humbly with your God.
Micah 6: 8
Lord God of heaven and earth, your word is a lamp for my steps and a light for my path. Engrave upon my heart an unwavering faith in your word, that I may walk in truth and grow in love, and one day be united with you in eternal life.
|
|
