{"id":28752,"date":"2023-10-02T12:30:00","date_gmt":"2023-10-02T17:30:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.anglicandioceseja.org\/?p=28752"},"modified":"2023-10-03T09:37:32","modified_gmt":"2023-10-03T14:37:32","slug":"bible-moment-my-actions-do-they-validate-or-betray-my-discipleship","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.anglicandioceseja.org\/copy\/bible-moment-my-actions-do-they-validate-or-betray-my-discipleship\/","title":{"rendered":"Bible Moment – My actions – do they validate or betray my discipleship?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Matthew 21:28-31 NIV<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u00a0 \u201cWhat do you think? There was a man who had two sons. He went to the first and said, \u2018Son, go and work today in the vineyard.\u2019 \u201c\u2006\u2018I will not,\u2019 he answered, but later he changed his mind and went. \u201cThen the father went to the other son and said the same thing. He answered, \u2018I will, sir,\u2019 but he did not go. \u201cWhich of the two did what his father wanted?\u201d \u201cThe first,\u201d they answered.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Take a Moment to Ponder<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

We should have a lot of sympathy for the second son in the story.\u00a0 Many of us, even today, believe that the word is the deed.\u00a0 We see it all the time, politicians, business leaders, and even religious leaders make grand announcements,\u00a0 but then nothing happens.\u00a0 This is where it stops.\u00a0 This parable is a great reminder of the necessity and power of action.\u00a0 \u00a0There is another interpretation that the parable may offer to us.\u00a0 It is authenticity.\u00a0 Our word is our bond and we should stand by it.\u00a0\u00a0 The second son responds to the Father’s request to work in the Vineyard with a ready yes.\u00a0 To be true to His Father demands, however,\u00a0 that He does what He says.\u00a0\u00a0 In that way, the Father knows that the son is dependable, trustworthy, and authentic.\u00a0\u00a0 Failure to do so means that the Father has a son that is not reliable. That is a tragedy for any parent – to have unreliable sons and daughters.\u00a0 The parable speaks about another son, who in response to that same request gives a flat-out NO, however, later changes his mind.\u00a0 The reaction of the Father is not stated but, we can only imagine that he was taken aback by the response, but heartened later on by the carrying out of the request.\u00a0 All in all, the parable gives a beautiful picture of human nature, which is true today.\u00a0 It describes our reaction to God and God’s will for our lives.\u00a0\u00a0 Let’s pray about it especially given that our liturgy commands us to be the example of word and action.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Practical Action<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Take a moment to think back to instances last month where you have made statements about what good initiatives you will carry out, but then fail to even make an attempt to carry it out.\u00a0 Think of two, and make an effort this month to do something about it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A Moment in Prayer<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

O God, you call us to tasks of your choosing that your Name may be glorified and your people edified.\u00a0\u00a0 Help us to find joy in paying attention to you which is what obedience demands.\u00a0 We pray further that it may be fueled by love knowing that you first loved us
We pray this in the Name of\u00a0 Christ who is the atoning sacrifice for our lives.\u00a0 Amen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Contributed by Canon Michael Allen<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Matthew 21:28-31 NIV \u00a0 \u201cWhat do you think? There was a man who had two sons. He went to the first and said, \u2018Son, go and work today in the vineyard.\u2019 \u201c\u2006\u2018I will not,\u2019 he answered, but later he changed his mind and went. \u201cThen the father went to the other son and said the…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":610,"featured_media":28753,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[92],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-28752","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-bible-moment","ctfw-has-image"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.anglicandioceseja.org\/copy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28752","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.anglicandioceseja.org\/copy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.anglicandioceseja.org\/copy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.anglicandioceseja.org\/copy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/610"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.anglicandioceseja.org\/copy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=28752"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.anglicandioceseja.org\/copy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28752\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":28754,"href":"https:\/\/www.anglicandioceseja.org\/copy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28752\/revisions\/28754"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.anglicandioceseja.org\/copy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/28753"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.anglicandioceseja.org\/copy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=28752"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.anglicandioceseja.org\/copy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=28752"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.anglicandioceseja.org\/copy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=28752"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}