Dai­ly Reflec­tion
Decem­ber 16, 2011

We sit in what seems to be a grow­ing dark­ness in the world, and we increas­ing­ly rec­og­nize that we are help­less to tru­ly change our sit­u­a­tion.  Whether we be Chris­tians or not, we almost lit­er­al­ly await a sav­ior from else­where, and our long­ing is intense --- although we seek to abate that long­ing with what is not God, such as drugs, sex, food, pos­ses­sions, pow­er, plea­sure, and any warm fuzzies or bright and shiny things that can dis­tract us from that almost painful hunger.
Isa­iah pro­claims that there is hope for those who have sought to yearn and hunger hon­est­ly, a theme that Jesus devel­ops in the Beat­i­tudes, and we must emp­ty our­selves of depend­ing on these insuf­fi­cient sub­sti­tutes for the sal­va­tion we seek.  That can amount to emp­ty­ing our­selves com­plete­ly even of a desire for good things, such as health and long life, and we can then receive the sal­va­tion that our God, in His infi­nite love and wis­dom, wish­es to give us and in what­ev­er way He thinks best.

And John makes it clear that the sal­va­tion that the Father sends is His Son, His Jesus.  We must yearn for that Word of love from the Father, must hunger deeply and pray con­stant­ly for His com­ing to us as indi­vid­u­als and as a world, and we must do His works as we wait.

Pray for the gift of hon­est and deep hunger, for only those who hunger and thirst will be filled with the Lord.  Only those who desire hon­est­ly and deeply, who accept an uncom­fort­able sal­va­tion, can tru­ly find life in a Cru­ci­fied Lord.