“In the same way, I tell you, there will be more
joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine respectable
people who do not need to repent.” (Lk 15:7)
Today’s Passage: Lk 15:1-10
Meditation: Today’s meditation verse
surely helps us to understand the difference of attitude between the heaven and
the earth; between the divine and the human. We read, “I tell you, there will
be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine
respectable people who do not need to repent.” (Lk 15:7) What does it mean by
this?
It means: (a)
there is always joy over the righteous ones; God is proud of them. In the book
of Job we find God asking, “Have you noticed my servant Job, and that there is
no one on earth like him, faultless and upright, fearing God and avoiding
evil?” (Job 2:3) At the end of the book we hear again, “The Lord said to
Eliphaz the Temanite, ‘I am angry with you and with your two friends; for you
have not spoken rightly concerning me, as has my servant.” (Job 42:7) In other
words, God is always happy with the righteous ones. However, (b) joy of God becomes
double with a repentant sinner. It seems to be against the attitude of man. When
it comes to him, he may not accept the repentant sinner, even equal with the
righteous one. He may consider him a little lower than the righteous one.
Why does God think the other way? I have reflected
on it many a time and got the impression that God might have thought of from
the point of view of the lost ones. The lost ones are always most regretted, toiled,
and desperate ones; they are the ones who walked, though by their own mistakes,
an extra mile in darkness and unhappiness; and they are the ones who lost all
their dear ones. Whether I carry this mind of Christ with me or not, is the
test put before you and me by God today.
Prayer: Lord God, we thank you and praise you for your daily
eternal bread. Many a time we thought of the lost ones as the lost ones only,
even when they repented on their sins. Give us, O Lord, the courage and openness
of heart to review ourselves and feel the sorrow and pain we experienced at the
moment we were lost; how much we longed for coming back to you and our
brethren. We ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen!
Greetings: God is with you! Have a nice and blissful Thursday…
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