Over thirty percent of the world’s population identifies as Christian. How many of those thirty percent actually know their faith and live it in their daily lives? How many of those that know and live their faith are actually trying to grow in their faith?
I can say that I’m a pilot, but what if I never fly? Technically, I’m still a pilot, but the more that I don’t fly, the more rusty my skills become. I read aviation articles to keep up to date with what’s going on in the industry. I review procedures and aircraft systems, so I will be more knowledgeable. I learn from listening to other’s mistakes and failures, so I won’t make the same ones myself. You can tell where I’m going with this.
Think about your typical day. How much time do you spend entertaining yourself? How much time do you spend improving the lives of others? How much time do you spend improving your spiritual life and relationship with God?
What is your number one priority right now? If it is anything other than making it to heaven, then rethink your priorities. Everything in this world will eventually pass away. To spend the majority of our time and energy on perishable things is not getting the best return on our investment.
In today’s Gospel, a father asks two sons to go work in the vineyard. One son says no, but goes out and does the work. The other son says yes, but doesn’t do the work. Jesus asks the chief priests and elders their opinion on which son did the father’s will. They, of course, say the first son and Jesus warns them that sinners are entering the kingdom of heaven before them.
Sometimes, it’s easier to walk if you first experience the pain of the fall. The sinner has fallen and knows not only what the pit of despair feels like, but also what the loving embrace of the Father feels like after asking for help and forgiveness. The sinner says no to God when he sins, but then after realizing his mistake and asking for forgiveness, he goes out changes his ways and does the will of his Father.
We need to not only say yes to God, but back that yes up through our actions. It is one thing to just say we are Christian, it’s another to show we are Christian through our actions. God gives each of us our own unique talents. We can bury those talents and not use them, use them only for personal gain, or use them to bring ourselves and others to heaven. Remember, the retirement age for doing God’s work is when we die. May God guide us in our lives and show us how to best use our talents to lead more people to the light.
