The New Testament is full of advice and practical suggestions.  One can easily dismiss what Jesus or St. Paul or one of the other authors of the New Testament has to say.  For example feminists might be at odds with St. Paul: women are to keep silence in the church.  So might homosexuals: the effeminate have no inheritance in the kingdom of God.  People who want to live in the fast lane might have trouble with flee fornication.  People who want to have financial security might balk at Jesus telling us not to take thought for your life, what you should eat and what you should wear.  These examples all reflect people’s unwillingness to yield their will to the will of God, but the suggestions that the New Testament make are meant for our benefit.  In the Sermon on the Mount Jesus tells us to love our enemies.  From the natural point of view this seems almost impossible.  Who loves their enemies?  Yet what is the alternative.  If we don’t love our enemies we will be full of anger, or jealousy, or judgment, or hatred, or bitterness.  All of these are deeds of the flesh.  All of these reflect a carnal mind.  If we have a carnal mind we are at enmity with God, bitter enemies or filled with hostility and as such cannot please God.  If we choose to dismiss Jesus’ suggestion we will suffer for it. 

            When we realize that we are humanly incapable of fulfilling the dictates of the gospel we are at the place where we will ask God for grace.  No person can merit God’s favor.  Salvation is a gift.  Jesus is a gift.  The Holy Spirit is a gift.  Faith is a gift.  Unless we die to self and take up our cross, unless we yield to the will of God and ask God for his mercy, unless we step out in faith we will not inherit the blessings of God.  Our stubbornness and willfulness are enemies to our best interests.  Jesus and St. Paul are not telling us things merely to frustrate us or cause us to rebel, they are telling us the only way to experience the blessing of God and reap eternal life.  As people having a personal will that can either yield or revolt, our choices are very important.  Unless we humble ourselves we will not reap the benefits of the gospel.  Unless we take what Jesus and St Paul have to say seriously, we are in jeopardy of losing our reward.  If today you hear his voice, harden not your heart.  Take God seriously.  Ask for his help.

Amen