Now is the Acceptable
Time
Fr Augustine Mundackatt
V C
It was to accomplish the
will of God that Jesus Christ became man. We read in the Holy Bible that
Jesus prayed and fasted for forty days just before he began his public
life of three years (cf Mt 4:2). Jesus taught by his word and by his life
that we can conquer satanic powers only through prayer and fasting. If
we want to receive his power and purity, his Spirit must fill us. "That
saying is sure and worthy of full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into
the world to save sinners of whom I am the foremost" (1 Tim 1:15).
If St Paul, who was a frontline warrior and apostle of Jesus, should call
himself the foremost of sinners, what can be said of us ? "For our sake
he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the
righteousness of God"(2 Cor 5:21).
We make this salvation which
Jesus gained for us our own when we imitate him through faith and works.
To let this imitation take place St Paul says, "You were taught to put
away your former way of life, your old self, corrupt and deluded by its
lusts, and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds, and to clothe yourselves
with the new self, created according to the likeness of God in true righteousness
and holiness"(Eph 4:22-24).
While discussing the life
of this "old self", St Paul says,"...it is now the moment for you to
wake from sleep.For salavtion is nearer to us now than when we became believers;
the night is far gone, the day is near. Let us then lay aside the works
of darkness and put on the armor of light; let us live honourably as in
the day, not in reveling and drunkenness, not in debauchery and licentiousness;
not in quarreling and jealousy. Instead, put on the Lord Jesus Christ,
and make no provision for the flesh, to gratify its desires" (Rom 13:11-14)
St Paul, reminding us of
the necessity to preserve our soul and body from sin, writes, " I appeal
to you therefore, brothers and sisters, by the mercies of God, to present
your bodies as a living sacrifice holy and acceptable to God, which is
your spiritual worship"(Rom 12:1). High lighting the style of life
that should be renewed in Jesus Christ, the apostle adds, "Do not be
conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your minds,
so that you may discern what is the will of God - what is good and acceptable
and perfect" (Rom 12:2). Speaking of the purity of soul and body St
Paul says, "The body is meant not for fornication but for the Lord,
and the Lord for the body"(1 Cor 6:13). He continues, "Do you not
know that your bodies are members of Christ?" (1 Cor 6:15). "Shun fornication!
Every sin that a person commits is outside the body; but the fornicator
sins against the body itself. Or do you not know that your body is the
temple of the Holy Spirit within you, which you have from God, and that
you are not your own?" (1 Cor 6:18-20).
When we are not able to
glorify God in our body, we become a prey to the lusts of the flesh. For
the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit. "Now the works of the
flesh are obvious: fornication, impurity, licentiousness, idolatry, sorcery,
enmities, strife, jealousy, anger, quarrels, dissensions, factions, envy,
drunkenness, carousing, and things like these. I am warning you as I warned
you before: those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God"
(Gal 5:19-21).
"If for this life only
we have hoped in Christ, we are of all people most to be pitied" (1 Cor
15:19). St Paul teaches that in the last days we will rise with Christ
and will all be changed in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye (cf 1 Cor
15:52). "Because we know that the one who raised the Lord Jesus will
raise us also with Jesus, and will bring us with you into his presence"(2
Cor 4:14). When we reject the divine life within us, the power of evil
becomes stronger in us.
If we are not able to enter
into the kingdom God, of what use is this life, O Lord? If we seek only
wealth, position and fame, marriage, children, a foreign assignment, we
place all our hope in this world . The man of God is one who conquers the
desires of the flesh by the power of the Spirit.
If we want to live united
with Jesus Christ, we must constantly repent of our sins. Jesus does not
want us to be stationary in the state we are in, but to get up, give up
the life in the pigsty, and return to our Father' s house. Is this not
the life of repentance? In one moment of compassion and mercy the thief
crucified to the right of Christ, became heir to the kingdom of heaven.
He said, "Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom" (Lk 23:42).
The cry from the depths of a repentant heart touched the heart of Jesus.
The one condemned and raised on a cross became the Judge and shared his
triumph with the good thief. His voice was heard again, "Truly I tell
you, today you will be with me in Paradise" (Lk 23:43).
Jesus has never forsaken
anyone who has come weeping into his presence. When the woman caught in
adultery was cast at his feet, he declared, "Neither do I condemn you
. Go your way and from now on do not sin again"(Jn 8:11). The prophet,
knowing the mind of God who wants to save all men, cries out; "Take
courage, my children, cry to God , and he will deliver you from
the power and hand of the enemy...because of the mercy that will soon come
to you from your everlasting saviour" (Bar 4:21-22).
The all-compassionate, merciful
God saves us by his mercy. "God who is rich in mercy out of the great
love with which he loved us even when we were dead through our trespasses,
made us alive together with Christ"(Eph 2:4-5). If you wish to hear
the voice of God who wants to save you by his mercy, bring your ears close
to the lips of prophet Zechariah, "Return to me, says the Lord of hosts,
and I will return to you"(Zech 1:3). To the people bearing the burden
of the tradition of the first parents, who hid themselves behind the bushes,
when they were banished from the sight of the Almighty, the merciful Lord
says "...I will remove the guilt of this land in a single day"(Zech
3:9). "For thus said the Lord God, the Holy One of Israel. In returning
and rest you shall be saved, in quietness and in trust shall be your strength"
(Is 30:15). When we thus return, God says, "At an acceptable time
I have listened to you and on a day of salvation I have helped you. See,
now is the acceptable time; now is the day of salvation" (2 Cor 6:2).
So that God's mercy may
work in us, he speaks to us through Joshua, "Sanctify yourselves, for
tomorrow the Lord will do wonders among you" (Josh 3:5).