new church life: jan uary/february 2015
toward evil that He inherited from
Mary began in His infancy, in the story
of the call of Abram. It is through the
development of Abram’s story that
we see the Lord led from one state
to another until His tendencies were
completely expelled and the Divine
could be fully present in His human
form. So it is with us. The recognition
of the Lord’s birth into our lives brings
to mind our own shortcomings and the
necessity of change.
Change is difficult. We have to
fight against deeply ingrained habits of
thought, feelings and action. We have
to learn to curb our natural responses to things in order to do what is right
rather than what we think we would like to do. Basically we have to break
down the barriers between the Lord and ourselves, and let Him into our lives,
giving us love instead of hatred, and peace instead of conflict.
Change is difficult, and this is perhaps why so many people make grand
resolutions at New Year’s, and then give up on them soon afterward. So the
Lord helps us in that state by giving us hope – the promise for the future. After
Jehovah had spoken to Abram and told him to leave his father’s house, He
made him a promise: should Abram obey, then Jehovah would show him the
way. He would lead Abram to a land that He, Jehovah, would show him, and
there, Jehovah says:
When the Lord is
born in us, and as we
commit ourselves to
live according to His
Word, so He fortifies us
as well, and gives us the
ability to resist in our
temptations toward evil.
I will make you a great nation; I will bless you and make your name great; and you
shall be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and I will curse him who curses
you; and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed. (Genesis 12: 2,3)
It is this hope that sustained Abram along the journey of his life. He obeyed
and Jehovah fulfilled every detail of His promise. So it was with the Lord, who,
having that first insight that He needed to leave worldly and physical things
behind, had the fortitude to fight the temptations that assaulted Him along the
course of His life. And in time, after the passion of the cross, He rose again as
the Savior of the world.
So it is with us. When the Lord is born in us, and as we commit ourselves
to live according to His Word, so He fortifies us as well, and gives us the ability
to resist in our temptations toward evil. Gradually, over our entire lifetime,
the Lord makes it possible for us to chip away at our evil inclinations, until
they are broken down and the Lord flows into us with His blessing and peace.
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