1st READING
God promises His people repeatedly that if they would follow His law, they would prosper. This is because the law of God is not something that He has arbitrarily imposed on us as a burden, but it is like a handbook of instructions on how to make life work best for us. Many people are deceived into thinking that, in some way, sin will benefit them. This is a great deception and lie. A person may be able to cheat the legal system by corruption, but you can never cheat the law of God. By following God’s law and commandments, not only will we avoid a lot of unnecessary pain but receive countless blessings as well.
Isaiah 48:17-19
17 Thus says the LORD, your redeemer, the Holy One of Israel I, the LORD, your God, teach you what is for your good, and lead you on the way you should go. 18 If you would hearken to my commandments, your prosperity would be like a river, and your vindication like the waves of the sea; 19 your descendants would be like the sand, and those born of your stock like its grains, their name never cut off or blotted out from my presence.
P S A L M
Psalms 1:1-2, 3, 4, 6
R: Those who follow you, Lord, will have the light of life.
1 Blessed the man who follows not the counsel of the wicked nor walks in the way of sinners, nor sits in the company of the insolent, 2 but delights in the law of the LORD and meditates on his law day and night. (R) 3 He is like a tree planted near running water, that yields its fruit in due season, and whose leaves never fade. Whatever he does, prospers. (R) 4 Not so the wicked, not so; they are like chaff which the wind drives away. 6 For the LORD watches over the way of the just, but the way of the wicked vanishes. (R)
G O S P E L
Christ here complains that no matter how God’s Word comes to the people, whether it be via the asceticism of a prophet like John the Baptist or the party-loving Jesus of Nazareth, they are unwilling to accept it. Are we also so blind and hard-hearted that we cannot receive the messages of God unless they come packaged the way we want it? Let us have hearts that are truly open and receptive to God’s message, no matter how it comes to us.
ALLELUIA
R: Alleluia, alleluia
The Lord will come; go out to meet him! He is the prince of peace.
R: Alleluia, alleluia
Matthew 11:16-19
16 Jesus said to the crowds: “To what shall I compare this generation? It is like children who sit in marketplaces and call to one another, 17 ‘We played the flute for you, but you did not dance, we sang a dirge but you did not mourn.’ 18 For John came neither eating nor drinking, and they said, ‘He is possessed by a demon.’ 19 The Son of Man came eating and drinking and they said, ‘Look, he is a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners.’ But wisdom is vindicated by her works.”
my reflections
think: By following God’s law and commandments, not only will we avoid a lot of unnecessary pain but receive countless blessings as well.
God’s special verse/thought for me today________________
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T O D A Y ’ S BLESSING LIST
Thank You Lord for: ____________________________________
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READ THE BIBLE IN ONE YEAR Galatians 4-6
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