Lent provides a stark reminder of Jesus’ agape love for us.  Considering this astonishing gift of salvation, it would seem impossible to understand how we, or anyone else for that matter, could walk away from God.  During Lent, we are called to self-examination and reflection.  That calling is certainly challenging.  Have we walked away from Jesus?  Are we living our lives centrally focused upon Him?  Could we, or should we be doing something more to point our world to our Savior?  Those thought provoking questions are clearly addressed with frightening reality throughout today’s Lectionary. 

When we ponder the condition of the world, our country, our community, our families and our very own lives, do we see what Jeremiah saw when he viewed his society?  Israel was definitely in serious decline, one could say they were suffering from an addiction to sin.  They had replaced an unwavering faith & commitment to God with a passion for worldly values and worldly pursuits.  The entire book of Jeremiah chronicles a nation that looks very much like our world today - a world focused upon worldly values in lieu of Godly values.  God spoke very clearly through Jeremiah as to what the problem was and what the ultimate outcome would be.  That outcome was the complete fall of their nation and their exile to Babylon.  The story provides a clear message to us all of what happens when we turn from God.

But what does it look like to truly follow Jesus?  Today’s Psalm provides crystal clarity to that question.  We must avoid the council of the wicked and stop following the way of sinners.  We must delight in the law of our Lord and keep our eyes fixed upon Jesus - day and night.  We must never forget that there are eternal consequences for our choice of whether to follow God or to follow the ways of the world.  It isn’t something we can fake, as the initial Luke passage reminds us – God knows our hearts and keeping His word requires total commitment. 

If all this were not clear enough, today’s Gospel story of the rich man and Lazarus provides further truth as we ponder whether to totally commit to God or to the world.  This story provides an incredibly stark reality for the consequences of that choice.  We can choose the world and the terrifying future of the rich man’s destiny of an eternity filled with anguish with no hope for escape, or we can choose God and look forward to Lazarus’ destiny of eternal comfort in God’s presence.   As this story explains, these consequences hold true regardless of what we are currently facing in our lives. Our choice, not our circumstances,  determines the outcome.

So where does all this lead us in this time of self-examination and reflection?  Is it possible that we too have walked away from His astonish gift of salvation & agape love?  Are we living our lives with a heart fully committed to Jesus?  Or have we allowed the world to seep into our heart and replace true allegiance to our Father with allegiance to the lies of sin and death?

Dear Heavenly Father, examine my heart and help me to flush out all that hinders my total commitment to You.  Give me the courage and discernment of Jeremiah to confidently follow your will for my life.   Cleanse me of all the worldly influences that have crowded out my true and total commitment to You. 
In the name of my Lord and Savior, Jesus the Christ.