To What Will He Hold Us To Account?

Prayer-Soldier

To What Will He Hold Us To Account?

Scripture:

And some, coming down from Judea, taught the brethren: That, except you be circumcised after the manner of Moses, you cannot be saved. And when Paul and Barnabas had no small contest with them, they determined that Paul and Barnabas and certain others of the other side should go up to the apostles and priests to Jerusalem, about this question.

Then it pleased the apostles and ancients, with the whole church, to choose men of their own company and to send to Antioch with Paul and Barnabas, namely, Judas, who was surnamed Barsabas, and Silas, chief men among the brethren. Writing by their hands: The apostles and ancients, brethren, to the brethren of the Gentiles that are at Antioch and in Syria and Cilicia, greeting. For as much as we have heard that some going out from us have troubled you with words, subverting your souls, to whom we gave no commandment: It has seemed good to us, being assembled together, to choose out men and to send them unto you, with our well beloved Barnabas and Paul: Men that have given their lives for the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. We have sent therefore Judas and Silas, who themselves also will, by word of mouth, tell you the same things. For it has seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us to lay no further burden upon you than these necessary things: That you abstain from things sacrificed to idols and from blood and from things strangled and from sexual immorality: from which things keeping yourselves, you shall do well. Fare ye well. (Acts 15:1-2, 22-29)

And he took me up in spirit to a great and high mountain: and he showed me the holy city Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, having the glory of God, and the light thereof was like to a precious stone, as to the jasper stone even as crystal. And it had a wall great and high, having twelve gates, and in the gates twelve angels, and names written thereon, which are the names of the twelve tribes of the children of Israel. On the east, three gates: and on the north, three gates: and on the south, three gates: and on the west, three gates. And the wall of the city had twelve foundations: And in them, the twelve names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb.

And I saw no temple therein. For the Lord God Almighty is the temple thereof, and the Lamb. And the city has no need of the sun, nor of the moon, to shine in it. For the glory of God has enlightened it: and the Lamb is the lamp thereof. (Revelation 21:10-14, 22-23)

Jesus answered and said to him: If any one love me, he will keep my word. And my Father will love him and we will come to him and will make our abode with him. He that loves me not keeps not my words. And the word which you have heard is not mine; but of the Father who sent me. These things have I spoken to you, abiding with you. But the Paraclete, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and bring all things to your mind, whatsoever I shall have said to you. Peace I leave with you: my peace I give unto you: not as the world gives, do I give unto you. Let not your heart be troubled: nor let it be afraid. You have heard that I said to you: I go away, and I come unto you. If you loved me you would indeed be glad, because I go to the Father: for the Father is greater than I. And now I have told you before it come to pass: that when it shall come to pass, you may believe. (John 14:23-29)

Reflection:

That which He asks of us is to love Him and love one another as we love ourselves. To follow His Word, He seeks that we do no harm to each other, nor should we harm ourselves. To follow Him, love and charity must be our guide. What He asks is simple, but it is the ways of the world which confuse the children of His creation.

To love Him, we are also called to love what He has created. To love His creation, we must love one another for all the children of His creation are of Him. To love His creation, we must also love ourselves, for we are also of Him. The ways of the world would have us ask, but what if we find conflict in what we do for Him, what we do for others and what we do for ourselves? The confusion is found only if we do not understand the order of what He asks of us.

The greatest commandment is to love God our Creator, the maker of all things visible and invisible. Jesus revealed to us that the second is like the first, to love one another as we would ourselves. He told us that all the law and the prophets depend upon these two. (Matthew 22:35-41) If we understand this, then, the order is clear, we must first serve God, then one another as we would serve ourselves. It is when we place ourselves first that we fall to the confusion of sin.

When men and women join to yield another life, some would say it is the choice of the mother as to whether that life shall be allowed to continue within her or to be born from her. If the mother has other desires than to care for the life entrusted to her, then, she should be able to discard that life. The ways of the world would confuse us in believing that it is somehow noble to allow the killing of a child for the convenience of the mother. It is the ways of the world which seek to tell us that it is the right of the mother to choose what is to come of her body over what is to happen to the life within her. It is the ways of the world which seduces us to believe that selfishness has the first order of priority in our choices.

What is left out of the discussion is the life which lives within the mother. If the woman loves God, she will also love the life within her and she will place that life before her personal desires, for it is through caring of the least of His creation that she also cares for Him. (Matthew 25:40, 45) As it is the calling for the woman, so it is for the man, for through the joining of man and woman has God designed for the families, generations and nations to come forth (Genesis 1:28, 9:7); but in this calling, He has placed great responsibility so that the least of His creation shall be raised so that they may assume their place within His creation and with Him. (Genesis 18:19, Luke 18:15-17)

But the ways of the world rise up and offer questions of deceptive logic. They challenge the faithful with the question as to what should happen if the child within threatens the life of the mother? Does not the mother have the right to self defense? It is true, to fulfill His commandments to love one another as ourselves, we must also care for ourselves as a sacred life of His creation, but the ways of the world do not ask this question in selfless concern for the mother, but to distract and to offer justification for any desire for the mother to take the life of the child for her self interest. The ways of the world confuses and tempts upon suppositions as to the right one has to the defense of self though it is rare that the life of child and mother become mutually exclusive. The physicians and care givers for mother and child have an obligation to care for both lives so that both might live until it is known both may not be saved. In the moment in which such choices are made, He knows our desire to follow His commandments, what is in our hearts, our capability to do what is right and just, what we did and what we failed to do. It is written that He will demand an accounting for every human life. (Genesis 9:5)

He does not seek to place upon us a burden greater than we can carry, but He seeks to lead us so that we do not allow the rationalizations of good intentions to be used as the means to conceal the ways of evil. He has given us the test of love and doing no harm from which to evaluate our choices. It is not that we should argue over the choice of the lesser of two evils, but that we should seek to find the greater of two goods. Those who decide their path without first consideration of God and neighbor will fall to the deceptions of sin. It is through selfish desire that the unjust become consumed with greed and lust. It is through selfish desire over that of the consideration of Him and neighbor that the innocent are harmed. It is through selfish desire the unjust close their eyes and deafen their ears to His Word. It is through selfish desire the soul is lost to the darkness and the ravages of sin.

His call to love Him and neighbor is a call to community where all might gather together to care for one another through charity and love. In the city where such love exists, there is no crime for selflessness vanquishes selfishness. In the city where such love exists, there is no oppression for all have been freed from the chains of selfishness. It is in this city that the temple of God and the throne of the Lamb are found. It is the city of the Lamb we should seek, for it is the Lamb of God who teaches us the truth of the Word and lives as the light to remove the darkness.

And so He told us that if we love Him, we shall keep the commandments of love. We will not seek to cloak evil in the robes of good intentions. In prayer we must ask to see the consequences of our decisions so that we may guard against harm to the innocent. In prayer, we should ask that we are not seduced by selfish desire. If we have doubt in any decision, we should turn to prayer such that the Holy Spirit will guide us to the truth. If all people and leaders of people turn to Him, we shall find the light which will remove the darkness now and forever.

May the peace and blessings of the Lord be with you always,
Prayer Soldier