The Greatest Disease

“The greatest disease in the West today is not TB or leprosy; it is being unwanted, unloved, and uncared for. We can cure physical diseases with medicine, but the only cure for loneliness, despair, and hopelessness is love. There are many in the world who are dying for a piece of bread but there are many more dying for a little love. The poverty in the West is a different kind of poverty -- it is not only a poverty of loneliness but also of spirituality. There's a hunger for love, as there is a hunger for God.” ― Mother Teresa, A Simple Path: Mother Teresa

What do you feel about this quote?

How can you reach out to someone who is need of love?

At the end of the parable of the Good Samaritan, Jesus asked the expert in the law a question:

“Which of these three do you think was a neighbour to the man who fell into the hands of robbers?”
The expert in the law replied, “The one who had mercy on him.” Jesus told him, “Go and do likewise.” - Luke 10:36-37

Living in Grace

D3LM3

2 Sisters, prostitutes and drinking from the cup

Okay, if you ever thought that the Bible only contained "nice" stories and was edited to keep it clean, then you will be surprised by Ezekiel 23. It is lewd, sexual and deeply disturbing. However, it paints a vivid picture of what happened to God's people. The reason Ezekiel shares this as a prophecy is to get peoples attention. Sometimes we need to hear a story that is so shocking in order to get our attention - almost like Nathan had to share with King David after his adultery with Bathsheba.

So, Ezekiel tells a story of two adulterous sisters, Oholah and Oholibah, who turn to prostitution. As we see in verse 3 they represent Samaria and Jerusalem - "Oholah is Samaria, and Oholibah is Jerusalem." Their story is one of adultery, of turning away from God and of bearing the consequence of their actions.  

And as a result of all of this, they will drink the cup of their actions.


 “This is what the Sovereign Lord says:

“You will drink your sister’s cup,
    a cup large and deep;
it will bring scorn and derision,
    for it holds so much.
³³ You will be filled with drunkenness and sorrow,
    the cup of ruin and desolation,
    the cup of your sister Samaria.
³⁴ You will drink it and drain it dry

Sorry to be a little blunt today, but this chapter tells us the honest truth. We will all drink the cup of our own actions. If we pour it, we must drink it!

Of course, the Good News of Lent is, even though we come face to face with our betrayal, we are still offered the cup of Redemption, through Jesus Christ.

Living in Grace

D3LM3