To Whom Do You Belong?

4 Jan

Children, let no one deceive you. 
The person who acts in righteousness is righteous,
just as he is righteous. 
Whoever sins belongs to the Devil,
because the Devil has sinned from the beginning. 
Indeed, the Son of God was revealed to destroy the works of the Devil. 
No one who is begotten by God commits sin,
because God’s seed remains in him;
he cannot sin because he is begotten by God. 
In this way,
the children of God and the children of the Devil are made plain;
no one who fails to act in righteousness belongs to God,
nor anyone who does not love his brother.  (1 Jn 3:7-10)

This is one of those many times that the words of Bishop Grutka come back to me:  “It’s not what you know, it’s what you show.”

“Whoever acts in righteousness is righteous.”  That is rather simple, is it not?

And, whoever sins belongs to the devil.

Whoa.  Wait a minute!

We would rather not consider that statement from John.  We would rather say, “Whoever sins has simply made a mistake.”

However, choosing to sin means that we are choosing the side of the devil and not of the Lord.  If we choose the side of the devil too many times, we are going to belong to him lock, stock, and barrel.

Thank God that we have the Sacrament of Reconciliation to cleanse our souls of the sins that we incur whenever we choose the way of the devil over the way of the Lord.  Yet, so many people no longer avail themselves of that beautiful sacrament.  That is merely another “win” in the devil’s column.  He does his best to encourage us to think that we do not need that sacrament.

The moment that we stray from righteousness we are no longer righteous.

We can come back, however.

If it has been too long since you have been reconciled to God, celebrate the sacrament.  Do not let the devil put you in his “win” column.

FAITH ACTION:  “By their fruit you shall know them.”  What kind of fruit will we produce today: righteous or otherwise?