Who is the center of your life?
In his homily last weekend Father Bruce Lamb described the reaction of two different athletes upon making a spectacular play: the first thumped his/her chest in visible recognition of personal greatness, the second pointed a finger toward the heavens in acknowledgement of the true source of his/her athletic gifts. The first sees he or she as being the center of the universe with all relationships in orbit around him or her (including God.) The second knows that God is the center; our lives and our gifts come from Him, without Him we are nothing. As Father Bruce put it, “Not something, not anything…without Jesus Christ we are nothing.”
What we must keep reminding ourselves is that in order to enter the Kingdom of God we must have God at the center of our lives. When we place God first, everything else falls into right relationship. As we rid ourselves of our self-centered idolatry and turn to God we will inevitably be driven toward greater love for others in our lives.To place anything before God is a form of idolatry. Whenever we place anything in our lives ahead of God we effectively and directly dismiss Him as less important, less God. If God is not central in our lives we are, by default, not worthy of Him and the rewards of the Kingdom.
Every one of us is created by God in His image. Recognizing that we are God’s creation requires us to place Him at the center of our lives and to recognize His presence within all of His creation. As Jesus tells us “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the greatest and first commandment. And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself” [Mt 22:37-39].
True love for God compels us to see Jesus in each other and to care for the needs of others. No one who asked Jesus for help was ever denied. As Disciples of Christ we are called to be examples of His love by placing God at the center and acknowledging that all that we are, all that we have, all that we will ever be comes from Him; that without Jesus Christ we are nothing. Who is the center of your life?
