Earthly?

What if it IS True? Blog

Discovering, wrestling with, and trying like crazy to live Gospel virtue.

05/01/14

John 3:31-36

The one who comes from above is above all.
The one who is of the earth is earthly and speaks of earthly things.
But the one who comes from heaven is above all.
He testifies to what he has seen and heard,
but no one accepts his testimony.
Whoever does accept his testimony certifies that God is trustworthy.
For the one whom God sent speaks the words of God.
He does not ration his gift of the Spirit.
The Father loves the Son and has given everything over to him.
Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life,
but whoever disobeys the Son will not see life,
but the wrath of God remains upon him.

There's a popular opinion that I like to call the “Gospel of Wishful Thinking” that essentially asserts that Jesus was just a good guy, a prophet, a sage if you will, but that he never had anything controversial to say. What part of the wrath of God have these individuals misse dout on? Now you might contend that Jesus hasn't identified himself as the “son” in this passage. Fair enough, but there's plenty of other instances when he has.

Regardless of the opinions, one thing is certain. Jesus claimed not only to be the Son but the be the Father. And, there is only one condition that he commands repeatedly and that is obedience to him. Obedience to him is in contrast to the way of the world and that is clear here. Some may assume that Jesus is speaking of Satan as the one of this world but I like to think he's simply talking about us. About me, if you will. I can easily be distracted by the world and the things in it. Especially the man made stuff.

How do we escape these tendencies toward idolatry? First I think we need to maintain an active prayer life. Do we pray when temptation comes along? Do we ask for our Blessed Mother's intercession? Do we ask for Grace from God? What about simply spending daily time in his word? All of this stuff is easy to let slide. We can fall into bad habits and before we know it be more concerned about our day to day living than to listening to God. Guess what? Once we find ourselves there we're earthly. This is what Jesus warns us against. So, before we think we're better off than we are, let's think about where our attention really lies.

Good luck and God bless,

Leo Brown