As they continued to ask him, Jesus stood up and said to them, “Let him who is without sin among you be the first to throw a stone at her.” John 6:7
Thought for the Day: The Truth about Ourselves and our Passions
If someone were to ask, Are you a good (moral) person?, what would you answer? How would you go about an answer? Perhaps you could use some scale that puts a Mother Teresa or Mahatma Gandhi at the top and an Adolph Hitler or BTK Killer at the bottom. Where would you fall on that scale?
I don’t know about you, but I’m not exactly sure where I’d put myself. Some people I know would put me towards the top and others might consign me to the bottom. I guess I’d put myself somewhere in the middle. But to tell you the truth, I think the whole idea of trying to put myself on some kind of human scale is a joke. Why? Because I think we’re actually all in the same boat with Mother Teresa sitting next to Adolph Hitler!
Now hold on a minute!, you may say. Mother T and Hitler? I’m no BTK killer! I’m not that bad even on my worst day. Don’t put me in a seat next to a mass murderer. But if you’re really honest with yourself, you don’t always live like you know you should. You know some of your guiding passions are good and some are not so good. You also know you have much greater potential. As I followed (and perhaps led) my friends into semi-criminal behavior, so have you at some point in your life.
As a Christian—meaning it is my faith in Jesus that motivates me to follow him and my passions that direct me—I know that I’m less than 100% of who and what I can be. In biblical terms, “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23). Christians believe that we are created in the image of God. This image gives us the potential, among other things, to live incredibly awesome lives. We have the potential to love others deeply and wholesomely. We have the potential to make a radical impact upon a world where AIDS, hunger, and poverty mean people die every day in despair and loneliness. We have the potential to reflect 100% of the image of God because of what Jesus has done for us.
The reality is we don’t live up to that potential because we have an internal way between godly and ungodly passions. Our human passions are not directing us to live into our God-given image but into another image. It is as if a worm, downloaded into our hard drive, is corrupting the way we are supposed to work. Instead of working at 100%, we’re working at diminished capacity. One of the things that Jesus does for those he calls is increase (over time) our percentage. When Jesus is involved, he directs, or perhaps I should say re-directs our passions. The questions are: How does this work? When does this happen? What does this look like? After all, who wants to be a disciple living with a worm in our hard drive when God offers to remove it completely? We will turn to these questions tomorrow.
Self-examination, repentance, prayer, and worship:
Before you pray, take some time to reflect on your sins. Perhaps there is one in particular about which you are concerned. Tell the Lord you are sorry, ask him to help you stop this sin, and then pray a prayer like the following:
Have mercy on me, O God, according to your loving-kindness; in your great compassion blot out my offenses. Wash me through and through from my wickedness, and cleanse me from my sin. For I know my transgressions only too well, and my sin is ever before me. Holy God, Holy and Mighty, Holy Immortal One, have mercy upon us through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
Spend further time in prayer and worship before studying the Gospel of John below.
Study: John 9:1-12, Jesus Heals a Man Born Blind
1As he passed by, he saw a man blind from birth. 2And his disciples asked him, "Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?" 3Jesus answered, "It was not that this man sinned, or his parents, but that the works of God might be displayed in him. 4We must work the works of him who sent me while it is day; night is coming, when no one can work. 5As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world." 6Having said these things, he spat on the ground and made mud with the saliva. Then he anointed the man’s eyes with the mud 7and said to him, "Go, wash in the pool of Siloam" (which means Sent). So he went and washed and came back seeing.
8The neighbors and those who had seen him before as a beggar were saying, "Is this not the man who used to sit and beg?" 9Some said, "It is he." Others said, "No, but he is like him." He kept saying, "I am the man." 10So they said to him, "Then how were your eyes opened?" 11He answered, "The man called Jesus made mud and anointed my eyes and said to me, 'Go to Siloam and wash.' So I went and washed and received my sight." 12They said to him, "Where is he?" He said, "I do not know."
Reflection Questions:
1) According to Jesus, why was the man born blind?
2) Why do you think Jesus put mud on the man’s eyes and then told him to wash it off? (Look at Genesis 2:7; Psalm 103:14)
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