In today's first reading, Jeremiah 23: 5-8, God, through the prophet Jeremiah, excitedly reminds us of the coming of the Messiah: "Behold, the days are coming, says the Lord, when I will raise up a righteous shoot to David; as king he shall reign and govern wisely, he shall do what is just and right in the land. In his day Judah shall be saved, Israel shall dwell in security. This is the name they give him: 'The Lord our justice'."
Not only shall Judah be saved and Israel dwell in security, when God reigns, but so, too, shall any other country or nation. When God reigns in our hearts, in the heart of any nation or any government, then, and only then, shall a person or a governor or leader lead wisely. Not otherwise.
How often I becry the fact that there is so much injustice in the world and so many unwise governors and leaders of the nations, so many unwise persons in the Congress of the U.S.. However, those very facts remind me that only God is just. Only God is righteous. Only God governs wisely. We all fall short, including myself. We are not God! We need God's intervention. We need God's salvation! Without grace, all of us will succumb to Satan, the Father of Lies. We are vulnerable, no matter what our position in life, no matter how many degrees we might have and no matter how wealthy or powerful we think we are. Only by our cooperation with grace, our recognizing our need for a Messiah and the gift of salvation which God offers, will we resist Satan's lies. Relying on ourselves without calling upon the Lord, we are likely to continue to allow Satan, an intelligent fallen angel, to have a heyday in his dealings with us. God alone can save us from the intelligent, cunning, deceitful ways of Satan, who roams this earth looking for someone to devour!
We thank you, Lord, for sending us Jesus, our Savior! You alone are more powerful than Satan. And it is you who are our side, fighting Satan on our behalf! Satan will not stand!
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