Good morning. The weekend mornings are a nice time to get started slowly and to enjoy the bounty of our Lord. Happy St. Patrick’s Day, especially for you Irish folk, did you know that old Patrick was not even Irish? I think everyone has probably heard that one by now. Given the mission to evangelize the howling pagan lands of Ireland, and if you’ve ever heard a poorly played bagpipe you will know from whence the howling comes, Patrick faced a daunting task. Protestants sometimes poke fun at the Catholic Church for sticking a “St.” in front of every old name, but that is simply a way of pointing out examples of lives to imitate. Jesus of course is the ultimate example and needs no designation in front of his holy name. Many of the saints would no doubt disagree with any honorifics those living in a later time would put with their names. We come to realize through the Holy Spirit lighting up the dark corners of our heart just how wicked our heart really is, and the saints would be no different. Only two people in the Bible were born with hearts ready to receive the Holy Spirit, Jesus, who was Lord even at birth, and his herald, John. All of the rest of humanity, saints and all, has been born with a heart ready to sin. Some times it is so bad that tremendous intellectual resources are expended to prove an innate goodness in humans that just is not there without the Holy Spirit of God. Paul pointed out that even after the Holy Spirit comes to dwell in our hearts, a fight goes on throughout our lives between the new desire to walk with Jesus and the old desire to walk in the darkness. I am sure that you have felt it too, that desire to sin faced off against the desire to do right.
We often see the little devil and angel characters portrayed in comic art trying to influence the main character one way or the other. For those in the world though, that is a false representation. There is no little angel fighting a little devil, but rather a fear of legal action, jail, fine, or other, fighting the desire to give in completely to sin. In Christ, we want to do right out of love for him, not from a fear of what society will do to us should we break a law.
My thoughts are meandering away; it must be time to move on to something else today. Let the peace of God lie close to your heart this day.
Bucky
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