Readings for the Day:
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While Jesus is speaking to fellow Jews and critics of His time in today’s reading, He is also, perhaps surprisingly, also speaking to us.
The power of God is life-giving. It can free us from sin, all those things that pull us in and lead us to our destruction. God is the only way we can have life and be free.
But in order to be free and have life, we have to be willing to listen. That’s not what the crowd around Jesus is willing to do. Yes, they are children of Abraham, the father of God’s Chosen People, but that title means nothing if they are unwilling to listen to God when God is, in fact, in their midst.
We have to ask ourselves that question too. We claim the title of Christian, that is the adopted children of God through the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, but are we listening to what it is that God has to say to us whenever it is that God comes and says it? Are we the followers that Jesus is looking for, or are we just like the critics before Him who try and end all discussion and debate with the words “Abraham is our father”?
This time of social distancing is the perfect time to ponder these questions within ourselves to see whether or not we are really listening to God. This is the time of Global Sabbath Rest where we can actually take the time to see where it is that God is actually speaking to us and to observe whether or not we are actually listening. This is the time where we can work to actually change our hearts to truly belong to God.