What Warning Will We Heed?

Prayer-Soldier · Posted: Sat Aug 17, 2013 7:53 pm Post subject: What Warning Will We Heed?

What Warning Will We Heed?

Scripture:

And the princes said to the king. We beseech you that this man may be put to death: for on purpose he weakens the hands of the men of war, that remain in this city, and the hands of the people, speaking to them according to these words: for this man seeks not peace to this people, but evil. And king Sedecias said: Behold he is in your hands: for it is not lawful for the king to deny you any thing. Then they took Jeremias and cast him into the dungeon of Melchias the son of Amelech, which was in the entry of the prison: and they let down Jeremias by ropes into the dungeon, wherein there was no water, but mire. And Jeremias sunk into the mire.

And Abdemelech went out of the king?s house, and spoke to the king, saying: My lord the king, these men have done evil in all that they have done against Jeremias the prophet, casting him into the dungeon to die there with hunger, for there is no more bread in the city. Then the king commanded Abdemelech the Ethiopian, saying: Take from hence thirty men with thee, and draw up Jeremias the prophet out of the dungeon, before he die. (Jeremiah 38:4-6, 8-10)

And therefore we also having so great a cloud of witnesses over our head, laying aside every weight and sin which surrounds us, let us run by patience to the fight proposed to us: Looking on Jesus, the author and finisher of faith, who, having joy set before him, endured the cross, despising the shame, and now sits on the right hand of the throne of God. For think diligently upon him that endured such opposition from sinners against himself that you be not wearied, fainting in your minds. For you have not yet resisted unto blood, striving against sin. (Hebrews 12:1-4)

I am come to cast fire on the earth. And what will I, but that it be kindled? And I have a baptism wherewith I am to be baptized. And how am I straitened until it be accomplished? Think you, that I am come to give peace on earth? I tell you, no; but separation. For there shall be from henceforth five in one house divided: three against two, and two against three. The father shall be divided against the son and the son against his father: the mother against the daughter and the daughter against her mother: the mother-in-law against the daughter-in-law and the daughter-in-law law against her mother-in-law. (Luke 12:49-53)

Reflection:

Who is the one of evil, the one who clings to it, or the one who warns of the consequence of it? Voices are raised against those who seek to reveal what evil does and what evil yields. The way of evil is to deceive, to twist, so that the one who warns of evil is presented as the one responsible for evil. The objective of the evil one is to confuse so that the people lose sight of the difference between what is right for the soul and what what will corrupt it. The evil one seeks to twist word and logic so that the people cannot see the truth of the Word.

To guide the people, He has sent His prophets, but to confuse the people, the evil one deceives to create false prophets. How, then, are the people to know the truth through the fog of what is seen and heard in the world? Through prayer, we must ask for the wisdom to discern what we hear and what we see so that we are not deceived by the ways of evil. We must pray that we are not deceived to ignore evil or the damage to which it leads. The very nature of evil is to cause harm, and as it grows, it spreads darkness and consumes souls. Communities and nations are led to destruction because the people remain blind to the evil which surrounds them and the sin to which they are tempted. Through sin, evil is nourished. Through sin, the path to eternal joy is obscured.

On the cross, He took the weight of the sin of the generations upon His shoulders. Through His sacrifice, He lights the way for us to follow. If we bring Him into our hearts, we bring the strength of His love to resist what tempts us. Where we do not have the strength, He will take upon His shoulders what we cannot carry.

Those who do not comprehend the ways of evil are vulnerable to be consumed by it. It is because of the deceptions of the world that some will cling to the world. He did not come to unite the people in the world, but to separate the children of His creation from the ways of the world. Those who cling to the world will be condemned by it, but those who seek Him will leave the world behind to join Him, for His kingdom is not of this world, but the kingdom of the Father in heaven.

It is people who make up cities and nations. It is the choices of the people which yield the customs and norms by which communities and nations live. Those who turn to Him will find a better path than those who turn to the ways of the world. Those who turn from Him will find another path, but it will be a path without hope, a path to eventual destruction. Blessed are those who heed His warning of what is to come to the world, for they shall be spared the sorrow of the world and will find the joy which may be found only through Him.

He does not desire to leave any of His children behind, but it will be their choice as to what they do. The faithful must guard themselves from the seductions of the world and pray for those who cling to the world. It will be through the prayers and example of the faithful that hearts shall be turned, but those who choose to remain blind will not see the light.

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