Matthew 21:31
Amen, I say to you, tax collectors and prostitutes are entering the Kingdom of God before you.
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I have this daily devotions. I go to Sunday mass service every Sunday. I try, as much as possible, not to fall into temptations. I pray in the morning, before meals and before retiring at night. I thought this would make me enter heaven. But in today’s gospel, Jesus is very clear: “tax collectors and prostitutes are entering the Kingdom of God before you”. I would say this is unfair. But God is NEVER unfair. He is a justly God… He is the god of Justice!
Entering heaven is not just those things I mentioned above. It is opening our hearts to Him and responding to His every words and following His every will. The tax collectors and prostitutes during His time may have lived a life disobedient to God in the past but when they heard the preaching of Jesus they converted. It is because the tax collectors and sinners had reached rock bottom and realized that the lives they were living were empty and meaningless. In Jesus they found life as it was meant to be. Jesus offered hope to the tax collectors and sinners, hope they never before had.
But for me, I may have heard the preaching of Jesus and knew the Scriptures even before them, but my heart may have remained closed and is not responding to God. I must now open my heart FULLY to God. And then share this joy with others so they may also fully understand the gift of salvation, the gift of heaven. Only then would I be entitled to it, joining the sinners, like me, who came to know Jesus fully in my life.
Do you only know about Jesus or do you know Jesus in your heart? Have you met Him? If not, tell him you want to meet Him – before it’s too late!
Let us pray +
Almighty Father, please be patient with me as your Spirit seeks to do his work of transformation in my life. I do want to live to honor you and more closely reflect the character and grace of Jesus. Please give me wisdom to know your will, courage to stay away from sin, and a willing heart to seek after you. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen +
The Lord hears the cry of the poor.
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