Every day in Lent, Bishop Edward Malesic writes a Scripture reflection for the faithful. Follow the bishop on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
Click HERE for the readings.
If given the choice, which one of us would choose death and doom instead of life and prosperity? Yet so often we decide to sin and do those things that we know (or should know) will harm our souls and strain our relationship with God.
The reading from Deuteronomy lays it out for us. “Moses said to the People: ‘If you obey the commandments of the LORD, your God, ...the LORD, your God will bless you...If, however, you turn away your hearts and will not listen...I tell you now that you will certainly perish.’”
Why do we choose to sin instead of obey God?
Our belief is that we have inherited our stubbornness of heart and our inclination to sin, the definition of concupiscence, from Adam and Eve.
Lent is a period of grace to permit the Lord to soften our hearts. It is a time of discipline that trains us to combat our temptations. We ask God’s help to overcome our weaknesses and make us strong in living our Christian faith. We ask God to discipline us to choose the good and reject the bad. It’s not just chocolate that we are trying to avoid – it is sin that must be the final object of our fasting and abstaining.
To become more obedient to God requires a decision on our part to move forward with Jesus. This is why Jesus urges us to walk with him: “If anyone wishes to come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me.”
If we want to choose life over death, we must choose Jesus over everything else.
The choice is ours to make.
May we choose wisely.