In the first reading today from Acts 17, Paul gives a great speech to some Athenians at the Areopagus. In the Gospel reading from John 16, Jesus speaks of the coming of the Spirit of truth…”he will guide you to all truth.”
In Paul’s speech at the Areopagus, he says, “The God who made the world and all that is in it, the Lord of heaven and earth, does not dwell in sanctuaries made by human hands, nor is he served by human hands because he needs anything.” This reminds me of the difference between needs and wants. Of course, what St. Paul says is true; God doesn’t NEED anything. But I think it begs the question: Does God WANT anything. I believe the answer is yes.
What would God want? He wants us. Not just some of us. Not just an hour of our time each week. God wants all of us. He wants us to love Him with every fiber of our being. He wants us to have a deep, personal and intimate relationship with Him. He wants us to serve Him, not out of fear, but out of love. He wants us to love one another. Actually, I believe that God WANTS a lot from us. Certainly, we NEED God. Without Him we are nothing, we have nothing. So here it is: God NEEDS nothing from us, but He WANTS much from us. We NEED everything from God. But do we WANT to give God all that we have, all that we are? Or do we feel that we NEED to hold something back?
Father, we know that you WANT all of us. May we always WANT to give our all to you. Amen.
0 comments