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| Catholic icon from Italy |
The Psalms for today are 31 and 35, both of which are pleas
for God to save the author from pursuing enemies. In Psalm 31 God saves David not once, but
twice. It could be that this is the same salvation, just doubled for emphasis,
but we see it twice. In verses 1-2 he begs God to save him. In 3-8 it seems
that God has answered his prayer and has delivered him. “…you have redeemed me,
O LORD, faithful God.” The plea is repeated in 9-18, and salvation comes again
in 19-24. Daily I am faced with Sin, my abiding enemy, but daily God promises
rescue. “Blessed be the LORD, for he has wondrously shown his steadfast love to
me.” How glad I am that the rescue isn’t dependent on my own strength!
In Deuteronomy 7 we eavesdrop on God’s exhortation to the Israelites.
Their 40 years of desert-wandering are almost up; they wait at the edge of the
Promised Land, poised to enter. But God wants to remind them of who they are
and how they are called to live. Verses 6-11 remind them of how God chose them
and rescued them, not because they were great, but because He first loved them.
Flowing from this love then is the desire to live for Him. Verses 12-16 tell
how to do this: Obey His commandments, the rules He laid out to their fathers.
If they do that, they will be blessed beyond what they could ever imagine.
Titus 2 is a similar passage, with Paul teaching Titus how
the Church is to behave. I wonder if the early church knew that it would be
over two thousand years before Jesus returned. In this passage Paul says that
we are to “renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live
self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in the present age, waiting for our
blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus
Christ…” Think of that “waiting for our blessed hope.” Are our lives meant to
be lived simply waiting? In some ways, yes. But our waiting lives are to be
lived in such a way as to point people to Christ. I recently heard a pastor say
that we were to be icons to point to Christ. The Catholic church uses icons, elaborate
pictures and figures, to remind themselves of Christ. Such art was and is
continually before their eyes so that they are constantly reminded of what
Jesus did for us. That is what we are supposed to be, living icons that continually
point to Jesus.
In John 1:35-42 we see Andrew and Simon Peter becoming Jesus’
disciples. Perhaps you all know about Andrew, who seemed to be constantly bringing
people to Jesus (Peter, the boy with the loaves and fishes). He heard John say “Behold
the Lamb of God!” about Jesus, then immediately went and found his brother
Simon. “We have found the Messiah!” he says, and takes his brother to Jesus.
His first reaction is to find someone whom he deeply cares for, and bring him
to the long-awaited Messiah.
So what have we learned today? God loves us, fights for us,
rescues us, which in turn prompts us to love Him and obey Him. Our lives then
are to be lived in such a way so as to point others, including our closest
friends and family, to this Rescuer, for whom we patiently wait.
