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That’s such a lame cliche. Anyway… something really stuck out to me in this passage. It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. That’s very true, unless you’re Mike Huckabee. But I won’t get into preventative healthcare. The point is that I feel sometimes we spend too much time with eachother. We hang out in our groups, be it small group, sunday morning, SI, whatever, and we’re perfectly comfortable talking about God. And that’s wonderful. It’s very important for us to continually grow in our faith. The problem is that we, or I at least, have trouble converting that fervor into something I can use around nonbelievers. I spend so much time with the healthy that I don’t mess around with the sick. There’s something wrong with that. That’s actually one of my biggest concerns about college. I think I need to branch out of my comfort zone a little. Talk about God with the ones who really, really need him. It’s a call to arms.

That’s a nice word. Faith. To trust in something completely. I have faith that when I sit on a chair, it will support me. Pretty simple. The Bible calls us to have faith in God. Seems more powerful than furniture.  But yet, this is the hard part. The Matthew section talks about how we constantly worry about things – perhaps we in our everyday lives don’t worry about food and water, but what about clothes? That hits closer to home. What about other things. Acceptance, security, belonging. Has God not provided this for us? But why do we not trust him. Abraham trusted God completely. Even though God’s promise was not fulfilled during his lifetime, he still trusted that God would be true to his word. Why do we have so much trouble with that? We should trust God for everything.

If your right eye causes you to sin, gouge it out and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to be thrown into hell.

That’s rough. But it’s so powerful. There are things in all of our lives that cause us to sin. Friends, the internet, the television, whatever. Would it not be better to cut out those things? It’s a basic concept, but it’s difficult. If that friend is causing us to sin, should we really be spending that much time with him?

So much goodness in this section, I can’t think of a unifying theme. I’ll just talk about everything.

The Beatitudes. What to do. This is where the Bible lists the heroes. But they are not the heroes we’d think of, who are strong, fast, intelligent,  persuasive, or have laser eyes. No, these are the poor in spirit, those who mourn, the meek, those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, the merciful, the pure in heart, the peacemakers, and those who are persecuted. Strange how not one of those agrees with our spirited, happy, strong, evil, self-centered, sexual, warring, bandwagon society. But these, who society distastes, will inherit the kingdom of Heaven. Pretty sweet. It’s good to go against the norm. Cause God is against the norm. Great is your reward in Heaven. We’re a Light. Let’s show others the way.

Oh snap! All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. Well that sucks. But ya’ know what? There’s a loophole. A way around the suckyness of an eternity in hell. That’s why Jesus is here. We all know that, but I know that I often take it for granted. He saved my life. I should be eternally greatful.

That’s such a great term, Screwed Up. Something is so wrong that it’s convoluted and twisted so much that it doesn’t work. It also works great when you manage a Screw Attack kill in SSBM. Anyway, that’s they way our lives are. That’s some pretty harsh language Paul uses in Romans. There is no one who does good, not even one. Thier throats are open graves, their tongues practice deceit, the poison of vipers is on their lips.” Ouch. That’s not talking about the bad guys. That’s us. That’s me. That’s everybody. We define Screwed Up.

But Jesus’ answer is so clear in the Matthew passage. Repent, for the kingdom of God is near. Simple. We’re messed up. Horribly terribly convoluted.  But we need to repent. Tell God our wrongdoings, ask for forgivness… and we get it. That’s awesome.

So what to take away. I’m not good I’m not righteous. No matter how many good things I think I do, I’m Screwed Up. I can’t get arrogant about my  supposed right-doings. I simply have to repent for my wrongdoings, which are more numerous than I realize.

Jesus was tempted unlike any of us have ever been tempted before, and he made it. None of us have ever fasted for 40 days, and none of us have been offered to be leader of the world, or at least I would hope not. That’s pretty big temptation. A lot bigger than a quick laugh or a bit of pleasure, I’d think. But Jesus, who was 100% man, managed to overcome it. That’s pretty awesome. That gives hope that when we encounter temptations, of a lesser but still formidable nature, that would be able to overcome them and do what God wants us to.

The Romans verse points out, among other things, some lame excuses for not obeying God’s law. It points out our nature to do evil that is oh-so-evident in  our world today. Comments like “God just wants us to be happy” come to mind. So we’re all screwed up. Luckily, in this depressing passage is a message of hope, a Pandora’s box of sorts. Yup, though we break the law, Jesus is here to give us hope. He’s saved us, propitiated us (word wall!), now we have the ability to live forever. Pretty awesome.

 …I want this faith in me to grow, I’m not ashamed to speak the name of Jesus Christ. – Newsboys

The Magi came to Jesus, who they knew to be the king, to worship him and give him gifts. They knew they couldn’t get anything in return – the king was a baby and the parents were poor. They simply wanted to worship their savior. Why is that so hard for me? To worship for the sake of worship, out of love and thankfulness. I’m good about morality and adoration… but worship and giving are my two biggest fault areas. Definitely something that needs to be worked on.

Furthermore, we are told by Paul not to be ashamed. Worship not only in church with everyone, or in the comfort of your own home… but everywhere? So that others may see you? That’s hard, because I always think people like that are being holier-than-thou. I should never be embarrassed about the facts I define my life around.  Any friends who think less of me because of it aren’t really my friends.

So worship, and don’t be ashamed of it. Simple to think of, harder to put into action.

Jesus was born of a girl. Her name was Mary. She wasn’t really anything special. Sure, she was a good Christian, a virgin, but she wasn’t perfect. She was a teen, just like the proverbial you and me. But God used her. Amazingly. God’s use for her shaped the next 2000+ years! And she was just a girl. We could do that! God can use us, he will use us. I just have to keep my mind open. Please though, if you spontaneously conceive, get it checked out.

The second passage shares the same idea. Paul wanted to go to Rome, so he could hang with the Romans and witness to them. How did he end up getting there? By going to prison. That’s a position few would see as a positive (unless you’re playing endgame Monopoly). But he made the best of it, and you know what? He got to Rome safely and was able to hang with and witness to the Romans. Pretty cool. Perhaps we may think God doesn’t know exactly what he’s doing… but he’s a tad bit smarter than we are. Perhaps I should trust him a bit.

I can do great things in strange ways. Haha, the future is so unpredictable.