Attentive to the Word - continued
St. Paul says that if we are a follower of Jesus Christ, we indeed will become a “new person.” St. Paul writes these words to the Ephesians (Chapter 4, v. 21) “If, indeed, you have heard Him and learned in Him what the truth in Jesus is, you will strip yourselves from the former conduct – of the corrupt old man with his deceptive lusts – and you will be renewed in the spirit of your mind, and you will be putting on the new man, the one created God-like in righteousness and holiness for truth.”
Third Sunday After Pentecost
The Lord once again sets the world on its head. Joy does not come from the pursuit of happiness or the good life. It comes from the pursuit of holiness, which is the pursuit of the Kingdom of heaven. Our joy comes because we obtain a mystery, a great treasure that neither sickness, nor sorrow, nor life, nor death can take from us. And the world, the flesh, and the devil will most certainly try to take it away. Guaranteed.
How powerful is this joy? "Let us lay aside every weight and sin that so easily besets us, and let us run with perseverance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus the author and finisher of our faith, who for the sake of the joy set before him endured the cross... (Hebrews 12).
It was joy that carried Jesus through such agony. It was joy that propelled the disciples out into a world that would hate and persecute them. It was joy that caused the martyrs to face death singing and rejoicing and loving and hugging each other until it brought their pagan onlookers to amazement and admiration. This was no mere emotion of fleeting happiness. It was joy, full and complete.
Since that time, Memorial Day has become a national holiday to honor the dead of all wars. In 1971, it was declared a national holiday by Congress, which was to be celebrated the last Monday in May. It differs from Veteran's Day, which is observed on November 11, which honors all veterans—the living and the dead.
Do a word search and Bible study on the word "joy" and you will be amazed at what you'll find. How can this joy be ours? It is a gift of the Spirit, but it requires our effort. "Seek first the Kingdom of God... go, and sell all that you have... strive to enter the narrow gate... keep My commandments... in other words, pursue holiness and not happiness. Then we will obtain a great pearl, a heavenly treasure that neither thieves, nor rust, nor moth can consume. We will obtain rest, peace, and JOY!
GLORY TO JESUS CHRIST!
This Weeks Message
Memorial Day came as a result of the Civil War. This was America's greatest war in the lives that were lost, in the issues and principles at stake, in the fact that it was fought on American soil, and in the results that have come from it.