Repent

An amazing reflection on today's gospel

Today, in reading Revelations (3:1-6,14-22) and then a passage from the gospel of Luke, I am reminded how the walk with Christ is NOT an easy walk. As humans we all have struggles. All of us. We all have difficulties. All of us. We ALL face days where we fight against the very thing that is trying to keep us from committing ourselves fully to Him. And it's different. For all of us.

But Jesus asks us, repent. Seek those things that you struggle with. And turn away from them. Let your eyes be opened, your ears hear, your mouth learn to speak in a way that keeps you turning away from your sins and closer to me.

In Revelations John hears the message:

"Those whom I love, I reprove and chastise. Be earnest, therefore, and repent"

He wants us to heal. But we need to heal from within. And boy, let me just say, that is no easy task! Oh, but is it ever worth it!!!

In today's gospel Jesus forgives the tax collector, Zacchaeus. One whom many despised:

At that time Jesus came to Jericho and intended to pass through the town.

Now a man there named Zacchaeus,

who was a chief tax collector and also a wealthy man,

was seeking to see who Jesus was;

but he could not see him because of the crowd,

for he was short in stature.

So he ran ahead and climbed a sycamore tree in order to see Jesus,

who was about to pass that way.

When he reached the place, Jesus looked up and said,

“Zacchaeus, come down quickly,

for today I must stay at your house.”

And he came down quickly and received him with joy.

When they saw this, they began to grumble, saying,

“He has gone to stay at the house of a sinner.”

But Zacchaeus stood there and said to the Lord,

“Behold, half of my possessions, Lord, I shall give to the poor,

and if I have extorted anything from anyone

I shall repay it four times over.”

And Jesus said to him,

“Today salvation has come to this house

because this man too is a descendant of Abraham.

For the Son of Man has come to seek

and to save what was lost.”

Luke 19:1-10

If we want to truly heal our country, our world, ourselves...

We must start from within.

Jesus is ready to forgive. We just have to be willing to repent and leave our sins behind.

Today I pray,

Dear Lord, help me to have eyes to see where I do wrong. Help me to continue seeking all the areas I have made mistakes, where I have slipped, where I have fallen short. I want to be more like you each and everyday.

Amen

-Do Everything with love-