Friday of the 1st Week of Lent
Eze 18:21-28
Mt 5:20-26
“Listen, you House of Israel: Is what I do unjust? Is it not what you do that is unjust?”
If you have managed children before, you’ll discover that they are the first to point out if you have been fair in your treatment of them or not. If you punish one, he or she would be quick to point out that you haven’t punished the other and weren’t being fair. Or if you were to give an uneven number of cookies, you’d get called out immediately. But the mindset of children is different from ours as adults. Try reasoning with them why you dealt out the actions that you did, and they would be obstinate to accept your point of view.
So how are we different when we try to point out to God that His ways are unjust? Surely there must have been a time when we have chided God about someone who was shown mercy, or received a reward even though that person was not ‘worthy’ in your eyes, and we said, “Hang on a minute God, that’s not fair!”. Do you remember the story of the Prodigal Son? The wayward son gambled away his inheritance, but when he became destitute to the point of wanting to eat the pigs’ food, he realized his wrongs and repented, and went home to seek his father’s forgiveness and asked to be his servant. When the older brother saw how his father had forgiven his wayward brother, he was angry and questioned his father’s mercy. But his father reasoned with him that he had not been unfair to his eldest son as all that belonged to the father also belonged to the eldest son, but they should celebrate because the younger brother who was lost before was now found.
God has a reason for His actions, not all of which we can, or will, understand. Our reasoning is like that of a child’s — it is limited and centered on our own selves. It is not that we are selfish, but that we may not see beyond our world to uncover the bigger picture that God sees. In today’s reading, God says, “Do I not rejoice when [the wicked man] turns from his evil way that he may live?”. God rejoices when a lost sheep has been found and gives him the same promise that He has promised all of us: that those who follow His Word and does what is right will live. If God doesn’t hold the penitent man’s sins against him, then why should we? We may be slow to understand this, but we do have to try to understand that even as we see it as unfair, God sees it as fair if someone has repented and does what is right by God. Who are we, then, to question God in His infinite wisdom?
Perhaps to quell that feeling of injustice burning in our hearts, we should pray instead to understand and accept God’s reasons and have a heart that is open to forgiving. Do not give up on God’s ways just because of something that we see as unfair, but continue on the path God has laid out for us and welcome those whom we meet travelling on that path, even the repentant ones.
(Today’s OXYGEN by Annette Soo)
Prayer: Lord, Your wisdom is beyond our understanding; in the times when we question Your judgement, help us to have more empathy, to understand that we are sinners and all sinners deserve a second chance in Your eyes.
Thanksgiving: Lord, You have promised us all the gift of life, for whoever follows Your Word. Thank you for being fair to all of Your faithful.
OXYGEN 
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