Acts 5:17-26 / Jn 3:16-21
It's a standing joke that many housewives expend considerable efforts at cleaning their houses before the hired cleaners come. And any physician will tell you that their patients regularly withhold unflattering parts of the truth about their lifestyles because they're ashamed or embarrassed. In both cases, we're being pretty foolish, acting as if the cleaning person or the doctor had any other agenda except to help us and to make our lives better.
Foolish, indeed, but worse yet, it's exactly what we so often do with God, wishing we could hide things from him because we just know he'll be angry and want punish us. We couldn't be farther from the truth. As Jesus said in today's gospel, "God didn't send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save it." And unlike us, God never wavers in his commitments. He is always the same, yesterday, today, and forever. And even on our worst days, his desire is to help us find life.
Trust him. Trust the depth and breadth of his fatherly love for you. And work with him. He will give you life!
