HOMILY FOR WEDNESDAY OF THE 5TH WEEK OF LENT. (2)

HOMILY FOR WEDNESDAY OF THE 5TH WEEK OF LENT.

THEME: WE WILL NOT SERVE YOUR gods…

BY: Benedict Agbo (Rev Fr).

* Dan 3: 14 – 28, Jn 8: 31 – 42.

It has not seized to happen, that there are 3 major kinds of temptations facing every child of God; the temptation of the flesh – to gratify a sensual pleasure against the will of God, the temptation of the soul – to pursue the kingdoms of this world and slip into occultism by worshipping idols and the temptation of the spirit – to slip off into spiritual pride by abusing the grace of God. These were the very temptations of Jesus at the vicinity of ‘Jericho’ and ipso facto, the temptations of every bona fide child of God.

Human faith is often tested at the crucibles of human needs; the needs of the flesh, the need for worldly power and the need for spiritual power. Shedrach, Meshach and Abednego were discovered by King Nebuchadnezzar as powerful men of faith who were occupying sensitive posts in his political dynasty but were not of the same occultic affiliation with the main man. That is usually not acceptable. So they were tempted to either blend or be killed. I tell you that many of our political leaders today ( presidents, governors, ministers and senators) are serving occultic kingdoms and their very close associates must bow down to the gods they serve and enter into covenants of loyalty before they can be entrusted with delicate positions. Some have succumbed to the temptations; some like Shedrach, Meshach and Abednego have said ‘No’. So many of us Christians have no serious convictions that they can die for. We can easily switch to another church, marry somebody from anywhere and join any group or cult at any time just because of the comforts of this world.

Jesus says in today’s gospel that ‘If you continue in my Word, you are truly my disciples and you will know the truth’ … and you will never be in bondage to anybody whether human or spiritual. Only strong believers in Jesus Christ can resist the pressures of idolatry and occultism in our world of today, especially in politics.
Some hear His Word out of mere curiosity and don’t go deeper (WAYSIDE HEARERS); Some hear out of desire to study and are not touched deeply by it (ACADEMIC HEARERS); Some hear out of sincere search and accept it in their hearts but are chocked by the pressures of this world (ENTANGLED HEARERS); Some hear the Word and remain in it, welcome it into their hearts and it bears fruits (FRUITFUL HEARERS). We must continue in His Word and be strong in moments of temptations to declare that WE WILL NOT SERVE YOUR gods. May God bless you today!

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