Blessed are Those Who Seek the Lord

Prayer-Soldier

Seek the Lord, while he may be found: call upon him, while he is near. Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unjust man his thoughts, and let him return to the Lord, and he will have mercy on him, and to our God: for he is bountiful to forgive. For my thoughts are not your thoughts: nor your ways my ways, says the Lord. For as the heavens are exalted above the earth, so are my ways exalted above your ways, and my thoughts above your thoughts. (Isaiah 55:6-9)

According to my expectation and hope; that in nothing I shall be confounded, but with all confidence, as always, so now also shall Christ be magnified in my body, wither it be by life, or by death. For to me, to live is Christ; and to die is gain. And if to live in the flesh, that is to me the fruit of labor, and what I shall choose I know not. But I am straitened between two: having a desire to be dissolved and to be with Christ, a thing by far the better. But to abide still in the flesh, is needful for you. And having this confidence, I know that I shall abide, and continue with you all, for your furtherance and joy of faith: That your rejoicing may abound in Christ Jesus for me, by my coming to you again.

Only let your conversation be worthy of the gospel of Christ: that, whether I come and see you, or, being absent, may hear of you, that you stand fast in one spirit, with one mind laboring together for the faith of the gospel. (Philipians 1:20-27)

The kingdom of heaven is like to an householder, who went out early in the morning to hire laborers into his vineyard. And having agreed with the laborers for a penny a day, he sent them into his vineyard. And going about the third hour, he saw others standing in the market place idle. And he said to them: Go you also into my vineyard, and I will give you what shall be just. And they went their way. And again he went out about the sixth and the ninth hour, and did in like manner. But about the eleventh hour he went out and found others standing, and he said to them: Why stand you here all the day idle? They say to him: Because no man has hired us. He said to them: Go you also into my vineyard.

And when evening was come, the lord of the vineyard said to his steward: Call the laborers and pay them their hire, beginning from the last even to the first. When therefore they were come, that came about the eleventh hour, they received every man a penny. But when the first also came, they thought that they should receive more: and they also received every man a penny. And receiving it they murmured against the master of the house, saying: These last have worked but one hour, and you have made them equal to us, that have borne the burden of the day and the heats.

But he answering said to one of them: Friend, I do you no wrong: did you not agree with me for a penny? Take what is yours, and go your way: I will also give to this last even as to you. Or, is it not lawful for me to do what I will? Is your eye evil, because I am good? So shall the last be first, and the first last. For many are called, but few chosen. (Matthew 20:1-16)

The Lord is with us always, but do we seek His embrace or do we turn our backs to pursue our ways? If there is distance from Him, it is not a distance He desires, rather it comes from what we do and the choices we make. If we choose to turn from Him to pursue the interests of the world, should we not expect that He would wash His hands of us?

Fortunately for us, our Lord is a God of great patience. Fortunately for us, our Lord is God of great mercy. Fortunately for us, our Lord is a God of great compassion. Fortunately for us, our Lord is a God willing to forgive us of our sins.

Though we are created in His image, we struggle to understand Him through the flaws of our logic. Instead of understanding that He created us with the capacity to live in peace according to the Word, we seek to restructure Him according to our limited comprehension, a comprehension which so often is clouded by our selfishness and the ways of the world.

In prayer, we should give thanks and praise that we have such a loving God, a God willing to forgive our sins, a God constantly inviting us to join Him in eternal peace and love for Him and all His creation. His capacity for love is far beyond our selfish ways.

In this time, we have the opportunity to learn the ways of the Word. We have the opportunity to demonstrate we are capable of the Word. The evil one would entice us to do otherwise in that when we succumb to such temptation, we separate ourselves from our Creator. It is in the midst of this battle that we learn of ourselves. We learn if we might have the seed within us to be capable of His ways or whether we will allow our souls to be consumed by that which is darkness.

We may be tempted to believe that the tests of the world are simply about us, but, then, there would be no purpose to us if we only focus upon our own desires. For what reason would He tell us to love one another if we only existed for ourselves? For what purpose are we in this existence if we only pursue selfishness and forsake love and charity? For what purpose are we in this existence if we forsake the second of the greatest commandments, to love one another? For what purpose are we in this existence if we forsake the greatest of commandments, to love God with all our heart, with all our mind and with all our soul?

We should read the scripture for what it tells us about how He invites us to live. So many attempt to twist the Word for their designs, for their purpose, to feed their hatreds, their desires to sow division; but false prophets cannot conceal themselves forever under the camouflage of twisted logic. The harm they cause will eventually be revealed, for while evil may slither in our words and in what we do and fail to do, no enduring joy can come from the ways of darkness.

Our purpose, then, is not for ourselves in this world, but that we might be there for one another. If left unto ourselves, we will fall to the darkness, but if we listen to our Lord and love one another as He loves us, then, we will flush out all which causes harm. From the younger to the elder, we all have the opportunity to follow in the ways of the Lord. The evil one will challenge us, but if we seek the way of truth and love, he cannot prevail. If generation upon generation gathers in love and peace with one another, he will have no place to flourish. Let the elder guide and bless the younger and the younger bless and help the elder so that together, hand-in-hand, we will walk straight in the path of the Lord.

Blessed are we that despite our sins, we may be forgiven. Forgiveness comes not from what we do, but from the mercy of the Lord, but He grants it from our faith. Forgiveness comes from the sacrifice made for us. Faith comes from our belief in the example set before us, an example of a sacrifice made in love for all the children of God.

If salvation is there for us, not for what we do, but for what was done for us; then, for what reason do we need to do any works of faith? It should not be that what we do is to obtain reward from the One who saved us, rather, we should seek to perform works of faith to demonstrate our love for the One who sacrificed of Himself for our salvation. We cannot buy His reward, we cannot earn a place in His kingdom; we can only demonstrate our belief in Him and partake of His love by giving of ourselves freely in service of one another just as He freely gave of Himself demonstrating His greatest power, that which is love.

Blessed are we that despite our mistakes, He continues to call. Blessed are we that though we are not worthy, He responds to our prayer. Some may feel that because of what they have done and what they have failed to do, they are beyond salvation; but He still calls, He still desires not to lose any of His children to the abyss. We do not know the hour when our final judgment will be rendered, but He will extend His hand until that time.

The truth is perceived by each of us at different times. Some are blinded by what they perceive to be the truth of the world. Some fail to hear the call which can only be heard by the heart. Others walk through days, feeling a void, but do not understand what they are missing. Still others feel a great yearning, but have not yet learned of that which can provide everlasting fulfillment.

Blessed are those who find their way through the void. Blessed are those who learn for what they truly yearn and finds that which becomes everlastingly fulfilling for them, for what they find is the love of their Creator. He waits patiently for us to learn. He waits for us to learn the way of His Word. He waits for us to learn the way of love. He waits for us to hear His voice. If today we should hear His call, let us open our hearts and reach out to His hand.

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