St. Matthew, Chapter 21, verses:31a; The Father's Will.

Our paragraph topic is:  (Parable of the two sons) Part 3. 

Christ continues his parable to help open the minds and the hearts of the chief priest and the elders.  He gave them the opportunity to understand but they were filled with deceit.  So he now tells them this parable to give them a second chance to see, to understand, to open their eyes that they might be saved.

The two sons each were told by their father to go to work in the vineyard.  One said that he would not and later regretted his answer and went to work.  The other lied to his father and told him that he would go to work but later did not.  Christ asked them:  "Which of the two did the father's will?" They said "The first." 

The first did the father's will being obedient to his request.  Most of us come of age knowing the authority of a father or a father figure.  It is in his will that we find our own.  It is in his will that we come to know who we are.  It is in his will that we have our example to follow through life.  And it is in his will that we have a model to reshape our own authority in life.

Where does this authority come from?  Who gave it to our fathers and their fathers and their fathers before them throughout history?  Did it just come of its own?  Did it just evolve into itself without the help of anyone or anything?  Or were we given the authority from our Father on high and passed it down from generation to generation?

Fathers are protectors.  Fathers are providers.  They are the rule makers to the young and the givers of love and comfort to the children who do not know for themselves.  Fathers come with mothers and together they make the home in which we grow and develop.  They form us from the womb, give us our character and guidance through life.  They are our patterns, our examples in life.  We carry the genes of generations of learning passed down to us from our mothers and fathers.  They have gone before us, experienced life that we have not, and survived with a knowledge that we can inherit.

Do the Father's will for he was here before us.  He knows that which we do not.  He teaches that which we have yet to learn.  His is the love that filled his heart from the day we came into this world.  He knew us in the womb.  He rejoiced with our every kick, our every turn, our every move.  He is the ultimate love and protection that comes to us, if we accept him.  He comes to those who had an earthly father and for those who did not.  God is our Father and the authority is with him.  Do the Father's will and all will be well. 

Read the sign of the times! Read the Highlighted New Testament Bible and lift the scales from your eyes that you may see, that you may know, that you may find the truth of who you are in Christ. Read it as though you would read a good book, from cover to cover, and see for yourself. Do not study it in parts reading one passage nd then skipping to another, but read it for understanding. Read it for knowledge. Read it for faith. Read it that your eyes may be opened, that your ears may hear, that your heart may be filled with the light of Christ .   The Holy Spirit awaits you. Christ seeks to know you. Open the door and let him in. 

St Matthew, Chapter 19, verse: 18e, The commandments: Thou shalt not bear false witness.

Our paragraph topic is:  (The rich young man speaks to Jesus) Part 8.

The rich young man had come to Christ with a question on his mind.  He wanted to know what to do to enter into the kingdom.  He was serious.  He had come a long way to hear the truth for he believed that Christ would tell him the truth and not falsehood.  So he found Christ and asked the question of what he must do.  Christ told him in simple terms what he must do.  He must keep the commandments.  The young man knew the commandments as anyone who was a member of Israel knew. 

The commandments were the rules by which the Jews lived and thrived and believed.  Some of the people kept the commandments completely, some partially, some knew them but did not keep them at all.  This was what the young man saw and knew but was puzzled about.  So Christ told him the commandments to keep: Thou shalt not kill, Thou shalt not commit adultery, and Thou shalt not steal.  And Jesus said:"Thou shalt not bear false witness." 

This is another commandment given to the young man seeking the kingdom.  Why did Christ tell him this commandment?  Why did Christ tell him the any of the commandments that he already knew?  Why did the young man want to know what to do?  Why do we want to know what to do?  Do we believe in what we must do to gain the kingdom?  In our day and time, it seems as if we live in a world where there is no knowledge of the kingdom, no knowledge of a God, no knowledge of the commandments he has given us to live by.  We go to church on Sundays, fulfill our religious obligations, and return to the world and live by the norms of the world and not by those given us by Christ.

We are the sheep that he left behind and they are the shepherds left behind to guide us in our daily lives.  Do we have guidance?  Are we led in the right direction?  There is the world and then there is the church.  There are our jobs, our homes, our children, our rest, our play, our hopes and our dreams.  Then there is our beliefs, our practices, our thoughts, our knowledge, and our beings, which define who we are.  The two are separate.  The two are not one.  Should they be one and the same?  Should we be one person, one being, one love, one knowledge, one spirit, one job, one home, one parent, one rest, one play?  Or should we be true in one area and false in another? 

We are witnesses to our beliefs.  We are spirits in our lives.  We are truth in our thoughts and our beings.  But are we true or are we false?  Do we bear witness truly to who we are or do we bear witness falsely?  To live separately bears witness to who we are.  To live as two contradicts what we believe.  To bear falsely in one area and truly in another shows the split in the person that we claim to be.  The world drives us to be false.  The world reinforces us each and every day to be separate, to not be one.  The world would divide us, create conflict, lead us away from who we are.  The world would have us bear false witness even to ourselves. 

We are children of God our Father who created us in his image.  We are spirits housed in the flesh, eternal beings given new life through the sacrifice of Christ our Lord.  Live true to the nature that is within you and falsely according to the world.  Be the spirit that is within you and seek to know who you are in Christ.  For he came that we would know.  He is that we will see.  He loves that we will love with the love that is given to us.  And he guides us that we will not be lost in the world.  To know is to seek.  To find is to understand.  To understand is to see the truth of who you are.  Be the truth that is within you and the Holy Spirit will come and be with you always.

Read the sign of the times! Read the Highlighted New Testament Bible and lift the scales from your eyes that you may see, that you may know, that you may find the truth of who you are in Christ. Read it as though you would read a good book, from cover to cover, and see for yourself. Do not study it in parts reading one passage and then skipping to another, but read it for understanding. Read it for knowledge. Read it for faith. Read it that your eyes may be opened, that your ears may hear, that your heart may be filled with the light of Christ. The Holy Spirit awaits you. Christ seeks to know you.  Open the door and let him in.