Turn
back to him whom you have deeply betrayed, O people of Israel. For on that day all of you
shall throw away your idols of silver and idols of gold, which your hands have sinfully
made for you.
God tells us to put aside all those earthly possessions we have placed
before him. We have betrayed him with all sorts of material objects accumulated
throughout our lives. But God says that on Judgment Day, our monetary worth on this
earth won’t matter. What will matter is how we lived our lives. How we
worshiped God and helped those less fortunate than ourselves. How we obeyed his
commandments. How we repented our sins and forgave those who sinned against us.
We are to treat all people as children of God.
Repentance and forgiveness can be difficult at times. It’s
hard to admit even to ourselves the sins we have committed against God, our families,
friends, or even strangers.
It’s also hard to forgive family, friends or strangers who have
committed sins against us. I know this from experience. My brother took his
life in December, and it has been extremely hard for me to get past the initial feelings
of anger and hurt. I am able to forgive him for leaving this way only through much prayer
and the loving support of my church family.
We are truly blessed in our everyday lives, and God asks us to pass on
this good news to those who are not as blessed. In the end it will not be our
earthly wealth that gets us into Heaven, but that we lived our lives in faith as children
of God -- loving each other, being tolerant of each other, helping those in need, and
following the commandments we have been given by our Lord, Jesus Christ.
O God, help us to remember what is important in this world.
Help us to live as you have taught us. Teach us to treat each
other as your children.
