The readings for today are so familiar to us all, yet do we always know how to apply them to our own lives? Who among us wants to admit that we can truly live in the Spirit and let the Lord guide us? And yet, if we have reached middle age, we know there is no way our plans for our lives are our own. We have learned to say, or at least think, “If the Lord wills it,” with all that we do. Most of us learn some humility. Yes, there are those who boast that everything they plan and do is the right thing to do. They trust in their wealth and boast of their riches. But people of faith learn to discount those people as arrogant fools. So, that part, we get right.

But what about us, the faithful meek ones? Do we really trust that we will be more richly blessed by the Spirit than by the schemes of the powerful for whom there is never enough to remain alive forever and not see destruction? Is our faith in God merely just an exercise in piety? Do we secretly resent our modest lives, thinking that eschewing wealth is the price for our redemption? Do we avoid facing the ugly realities of structural inequality because we do not have the courage to address the brokenness of greed and corrupt power that ensnares us?

These lessons today challenge me to seek the way and the truth and the life of the Lord toward living in the Kingdom of heaven in this life. Why should we fear the wicked and the evil ensnarers of this world when in fact we can live in confidence that we will find more colleagues and friends of the Spirit than we think if we follow Jesus. Together, we too can perform mighty deeds in his name. The lessons for today should give us all the confidence to live out our lives knowing that the Kingdom of heaven is at hand. I pray we will all know the Lord’s will for our lives and through the Spirit we will live to do it.