W.I.F.M.
- Gary Fritsch
- Sep 1
- 2 min read
We almost can't help ourselves sometimes. Even when confronted with something amazing, we can often only think of how things affect us personally. We see a tragic example of this in today's Gospel.
Jesus boldly reveals Himself as the incarnate word of God and the fulfillment of Isaiah's prophecy. Almost immediately, His hearers begin to try and figure out what's in it for them. They ask: isn't this Joseph's son? Perhaps thinking that if He is indeed a native son, He will do something special for them, something extra.
We can easily get caught up in this 'beneficial friendship' mode. Consciously or subconsciously, we engage in friendships because they benefit us. This is not totally wrong, as often the benefit is an expression of kindness or love toward us, which we are naturally drawn toward. But that should not be the MAIN REASON for the friendship. We should engage in friendship out of love and appreciation for them as a person and a child of God.
Jesus tells us that we are no longer slaves, but friends, and so we should look at our friendship with Him in the same way, not in a what's in it for me sort of way, but appreciating fully who He is and how much He loves us. This can be tricky when God is so giving and gracious because we always seem to be able to count His blessings upon us. We certainly should long for heaven, but mostly because is the place where we can love God perfectly and enjoy His love for us most fully.
In today's Gospel, this might have looked like people celebrating that Jesus was here, and were joyful that He was bringing this great news to the poor, the captives, the blind and the oppressed. They certainly would still enjoy many benefits as friends of Jesus, but their focus was on Him and the mercy that He brought for everyone.
While we can certainly spend time counting the many blessings and being thankful, we should still love God in the midst of challenge and difficulty, knowing that God can only ever love us and that good will come to us through our relationship with Him.
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