February 12, Matthew 19
Cheryl Rondorf
Don’t we all want to be healed of something?? Jesus was doing these very great healings and it upset the Pharisees. So they tried to distract Him with their testing question: “Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife for any and every reason?” Jesus answers and they question again. And HE tells them, their hearts are hard. Ouch!
We’ve been married almost 43 years. It’s taken a lot of intensive work and an investment of all our resources to make our marriage successful. Sometimes, especially during one of our cross country moves with the Navy, we felt so overwhelmed. And then, at our lowest, we found the San Diego church and after studying the Bible, became disciples. (28 years ago!) God saved our marriage and our family. Yes, there have been many difficult situations since then, but the Holy Spirit, committed disciples in our lives, and large doses of humility have seen us through those times.
God’s hope for us as disciples, is to be soft-hearted in every situation and relationship. Pray for discernment and humility!!
Neil Rondorf
The story of the rich young man gives me cause for pause as I reflect on my life. I had 3 successful careers, retired a few times and from the world’s perspective I had it all (including the beautiful wife). But at the peak of my professional life I was plagued with an addictive habitual sin. I knew it was wrong but couldn’t overcome it. One can see in the exchange with the young man, Jesus saw the deeper need. He told the young man he needed to obey the commandments (note he did not say the law). The young man asked which ones (as if there are options?) Jesus responded with some specifics The young man replied with confidence that he obeyed those. But note that they were all the ones that dealt with human relationships. He avoided the ones dealing with his relationship with God. 'You shall have no other gods / No idols / use of the Lord’s name / observing the Sabbath. Like many of us, he had self-defined his relationship with God, creating the justifications to see himself as righteous before God and even a good example to others. Yet there were areas of his life that deep down, he knew he had to come to terms with. The same was true for me. It took me years to find a solution. I could not find it on my own - I needed someone to help me see it and work with me to help me get there. I know God was shaping me. Now, Cheryl and I work in a ministry format that we never dreamed we would function in. Often times we try to shape our own lives and limit God’s ability to shape us due to our own choices and decisions. We limit what God would want us to be by pursuing what we want to be. The only solution to this dilemma is a deep relationship with God, seeking advice and searching ourselves to see if we are self motivated or Spiritually inspired.