What is God’s There is a Bible verse on my calendar for the current month that states, "Where your treasure is, there your heart will also be" (Matthew 6:21). The "treasures" of Earth eventually fade and pass away. In today's Gospel, we encounter the Herodians and Pharisees joining together against Christ. The treasure in this case, a coin, had the [...]
Are You Ready for the Feast? How married are you to the idea that Jesus is your Savior? How open are you to the invitation extended to everyone as Jesus died upon the Cross and then rose again, conquering sin and death? How prepared are you to RSVP and, more importantly, arrive prepared to enjoy the feast? Jesus teaches with [...]
Life Isn't Fair Life isn't fair! How many times have we heard or said this phrase in our lifetime? From a young age we think that the world isn't fair and oftentimes, the authority figures in our lives are quick to remind us of that fact. You would perhaps think that it would be different with God. That once we [...]
Today or Tomorrow? Sometimes when we get home from work we are so tired that we don’t feel like doing anything at all, yet there is so much to do around the house. We might find ourselves uttering the phrase, "I’ll do it tomorrow." And as the days go by, we keep repeating, "Tomorrow, I’ll do it tomorrow.” Perhaps this [...]
Are You Envious Because I am Generous? As a convert, I was mostly on board with God’s generosity in today’s parable of the laborers. After all, those who labored in the vineyard since early morning made my afternoon conversion possible. Yet, I wondered about the last-minute arrivals, especially those who had been hostile to the laborers. Maybe they should receive [...]
We All Receive More Than We Deserve The parable of the landowner and the laborers hired to work in his vineyard is, on one level, about abundance. The landowner had a large enough vineyard that he needed to hire laborers repeatedly throughout the day to get the work done. As evening approached and the men lined up for their pay, [...]
Forgive From the Heart I’m not sure what I was up to when I was a kid but I recall having frequent cuts and scrapes that required my body to produce scabs. My mom told me not to pick at them to avoid scars but to my childhood mind, scars were irrelevant. More interesting were these scratchy patches on my [...]
Take Up Your Cross Dear Jesus, in this season, as in many before, I have felt so distant from You. My cross can feel overbearing. While I should be grateful for my family, I am most commonly the opposite. I feel starved for attention and respite, bitter at the need to be constantly humble. I react with anger and impatience [...]
Pleasing Sacrifice Today is my 31st birthday and though I still believe I am young in my mind, my body is certainly feeling every year I add to my life. Gray hairs start sprouting from my beard, weird aches and pains come out of nowhere, and general forgetfulness or fatigue are all signs of growing another year older. Birthdays are [...]
Give Thanks to the Lord With All Your Heart It’s hard to believe, but summer is winding down already. It seems like just yesterday that the snow was finally behind us and my kids were actually ASKING to go outside, instead of us telling them to. It was as if the higher temperatures and sunshine beckoned us out to take [...]