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LENT REFLECTIONS (DAY 19 – SUNDAY REFLECTION)

ISAIAH 55:1-9 

1 CORINTHIANS 10:1-13 

LUKE 13:1-9 

A person referred to as Lord is a ruler with authority. He is the one to whom service and obedience is due. A slave is owned by his or her Lord therefore if a slave wishes to live then he or she must listen to his or her Lord. It is important to understand that believers are bonded slaves of God because He is our Lord. This introduction brings us to the theme for our reflection, “Listen to the Lord and Live” To listen to means to give attention to a sound. The theme invites us to give attention to the voice of God, obey Him as our Lord and live. We shall discuss the theme by deliberating on the reasons for which we must listen to the Lord and live: 

1. We must listen to the Lord because He knows what is best for us our lives. 
2. We must listen to the Lord because in him we are able to overcome sin and live. 
3. We must listen to the Lord because He is merciful to us even when we are unproductive. 

Firstly, most often than not, we yearn for things and a way of life that brings destruction to us, we must begin to listen to the Lord and live because He knows what is best for our lives and salvation. For this reason, the Prophet Isaiah calls on the people of Israel who had gone astray in the first scripture reading when he said that “Why spend money on what is not bread, and your labour on what does not satisfy? Listen, listen to me, and eat what is good, and you will delight in the richest of fare.  Give ear and come to me; listen, that you may live…” (Isaiah 55:2-3). In other words, the Lord knows the only true way to our salvation that is why we must develop a personal relationship with Him by listening to Him so that we “…may have life, and have it to the full. (John 10:10). It is important to listen to the Lord and live because Proverbs 14:12 admonishes us that “There is a way that appears to be right, but in the end, it leads to death.”  

Secondly, we must listen to Lord and live because His Word enables us to overcome sin and live. “For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Romans 6:23) Paul again admonishes us in the second scripture reading that we must listen to the Lord or we shall perish like our forefathers who disobeyed God during the exodus of the Israelites from Egypt to the promised land. “… God was not pleased with most of them; their bodies were scattered in the wilderness.  Now, these things occurred as examples to keep us from setting our hearts on evil things as they did. Do not be idolaters, as some of them were; as it is written: “The people sat down to eat and drink and got up to indulge in revelry.” We should not commit sexual immorality, as some of them did—and in one day twenty-three thousand of them died. We should not test Christ, as some of them did—and were killed by snakes. And do not grumble, as some of them did —and were killed by the destroying angel.” (1 Corinthians 10:5-10). Dear friend, a wise person learns from the mistake of others, let us listen to the Lord, overcome sin and live for His glory.  

Thirdly, even in our sins and fruitlessness God continues to be merciful and seeks our salvation rather than our destruction. He is a loving father and offers us many chances to repent and be saved. It is, for this reason, Jesus in the third Scripture reading, warned the self-righteous Jews “I tell you, no! But unless you repent, you too will all perish.” (Luke 13:5) Jesus is like the vine caretaker interceding on behalf of those who are not listening to God hence are not bearing any fruits because of sin. “Sir,’ the man replied, ‘leave it alone for one more year, and I’ll dig around it and fertilize it.  If it bears fruit next year, fine! If not, then cut it down.’” (Luke 13:8-9). Dear friend, like the intercession of the caretaker of the vineyard, Jesus intercedes on our behalf but time may not be on your side. The decision to repent and be saved is now! Make use of your time of grace, listen to the Lord, be productive and live. Paul further admonishes us in Roman 6:1-4 that “ What shall we say, then? Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase?  By no means! We are those who have died to sin; how can we live in it any longer? Or don’t you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death so that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life.”  

In summary beloved in the Lord, we must listen to the Lord because he loves and cares for us, we must listen to Him because in Him we can overcome sin and live, last but not the least, we must listen to Him because He is merciful and offers us the opportunity to repent and be saved through our Lord and Master Jesus Christ. May the Holy Spirit empower us to continually listen to the Lord, live a glorious life and attain eternal life through our Lord and Master Jesus. Amen.  

Jean-Paul Agidi (Rev)