Psalm 23
The Lord is my shepherd,
I lack nothing.
2 He takes me to lush pastures,
he leads me to refreshing water.
3 He restores my strength.
He leads me down the right paths
for the sake of his reputation.
4 Even when I must walk through the darkest valley,
I fear no danger,
for you are with me;
your rod and your staff reassure me.
5 You prepare a feast before me
in plain sight of my enemies.
You refresh my head with oil;
my cup is completely full.
6 Surely your goodness and faithfulness will pursue me all my days,
and I will live in the Lord’s house for the rest of my life.
Not only the social siruation we are currently experiencing, the insecurity in the health sector, constantly new regulations and orders that affect everyday life should give us food for thought, but our purely personal situation, the situation as we believe it , should give us food for thought. Am I someone who resigns to the given or am I striving for change ??. One sometimes speaks of “someone growing above himself” .. what do you mean by that? This generally means that in situations that are difficult, someone develops powers that one would never have been able to assume. As if you had to run for your life and mobilize unexpected powers. In faith, if you really want to follow the Lord, you have to mobilize your undreamed-of powers, you have to leave the old behind, make an effort, develop powers in the Holy Spirit that no one would be able to trust. Powers to wipe out envy, to activate mercy, to suppress the various small and large vices, to serve the Lord with a pure heart, to become a “new person”. This renewal is like a metamorphosis, a change from within. Put on new clothes, but first be cleaned from the inside and then shine again from the outside, being light for other people. If I am renewed myself, I can also be a tool to help others to renew. Lord, in your word I will change my life !! It is the Holy Spirit in us who changes, but this only succeeds if we make the change with the Spirit. The Holy Spirit changes both the way we think and the way we behave, we become the light that changes.
Even if someone can recite the wording of the Bible and has noted the numbers of the chapters, but the heart and the faith are not there, this has no value. because then the words are not really understood, you do not understand them. Everyone has a different way of seeing, experiencing, understanding, at different speeds. It doesn’t matter if only the direction we’re working towards is right. The Lord gives us time, he just wants us not to be satisfied and to constantly work on our perfection.
This world seduces us to be like the others, …. with envy you look at the slim figure of a film star, do not allow your neighbour’s swanky car, peer at relatives who can afford more than we can, one feels pressed into certain forms, wants to keep up with the others, be equally quick, equally beautiful, equally rich. Let us not be forced into forms !!! Let us be ourselves, we try to be as the Lord has wanted us from the beginning of times. This form is the only one that we should strive for with a pure heart. Everyone is unique, nobody should wish to be an image of someone else, with one exception – an image of God. The Lord has made you great, seek this goal, find your own personal path in Jesus Christ with the help of the Holy Spirit!
In John we read about Nicodemus, who asks astonished how it could be that he would be born again: John 3: 5 Jesus answered: “I tell you the deep truth: If a person is not born of water and spirit, he can not get into the Kingdom of God. 6 What is born of the flesh is flesh, and what is born of the spirit is spirit. 7 Don’t be surprised that I told you ‘you have to be born from above’. 8 The wind blows wherever it wants and you hear its labor, but you don’t know where it comes from and where it is going. It is the same with everyone who is born of the spirit. ”
Those who are born again in Christ can also carry out the Lord’s mandate to lead others to the light and word of God. If you have not put on new clothes yourself, you cannot help your neighbor. The Lord asks us to leave sin behind, envy, resentment, bad words. How much careless words can hurt, they are like a knife that penetrates our flesh, not to mention real physical violence. On the way to God this is all useless, useless luggage that prevents us from coming to him. Controlling our words is often not easy when we face someone we are not well disposed to. Fill your language with the Lord’s words, forgive me if someone has hurt you, because if you don’t want to forgive, you won’t be forgiven. The Lord is faithful, he is our support, he sets us up in our weakness. He is the good shepherd who leads his flock to the Father in safe ways.
Lord, my heart calls for you, I have been hurt, I have been humiliated, give me the strength to forgive my tormentors, to curb my envy, to make my missing love grow stronger, have mercy on my inadequacy, I want to serve you , accept me as your servant and make me the person you have intended for me. Amen.