John 6:53. . .”Jesus says, ‘Unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood you will not have life in you.'”
Today’s verse doesn’t sound too appealing, does it? Especially to someone who doesn’t understand it. This is an example of a verse that is taken too literally. Many of Jesus’s followers turned away because they felt the command was too harsh.
Fundamentalists are known for taking the Bible too literally. Just because it’s not meant to be taken literally doesn’t mean it shouldn’t be taken seriously. Writers tend to use symbolism when they write. So we would have to understand what was going on during that time period as well as the symbolism of the day.
If you take this verse literally you will think Jesus was calling His people to cannibalism. Remember in the book of Revelations where He invited His people to come in and sup with Him?
This statement about eating the flesh and drinking the blood was an invitation to communion with the living God. The only relationship that fills the spiritual void and gives life meaning.
I’ve heard so much Trump worship in recent years I begin to wonder if 2000 years from now society will organize a religion around Donald Trump and still be waiting for his second coming?
Sound familiar?
Political leaders used to build their own cult of personality. Now society worships these people on their own.
God told us through 1 Samuel that we don’t need a leader. Why do we always insist on having one?
The Kingdom of God is it’s own nation. But I guess that does sound a little dualistic when you realize there are two kingdoms that exist simultaneously, with one being invisible.
The political kingdom is a mirror of the spiritual kingdom. Basically an antichrist that tries to enslave us to materialism.
The title of this blog post is a hypotheticalquestion. What exactly is a loser? In a hyper capitalist culture the answer could be any number of people that we label as being”poor” because we can’t figure out what is wrong with them.
Would you know you were poor, or consider yourself a loser if society or the media didn’t constantly tell you how poor you were?
Jesus warns against losing your soul by gaining the whole world; or as much as possible. If we look for wealth outside of ourselves we will wear ourselves out and become spiritually poor even if we have plenty.
While the prosperity gospel is one extreme, the poverty gospel that God wants us to be poor is a different extreme.
True wealth and prosperity comes from the inside out and flows from a right relationship with the Divine. Some people are so fulfilled by this that they subconsciously take a vow of poverty (live on less) and end up looking poor. Maybe this is why there is a bible verse says true believers are peculiar people.
Somehow I doubt God cares about our material status. We are free to choose. But if we pursue wealth we are held to a higher standard and should use it to contribute to the kingdom of God. Likewise we have to do the same with our time if we choose to work less.
We have freewill(whether people believe in it or not). This is a gift from God. The only real sin is idolatry, or putting any thing before our heavenly relationship.
I remember hearing a pastor on the radio saying the Sabbath day of rest was made for man and not man made for the Sabbath. In other words, people in biblical times worked seven days a week while men of God would work only six and trust in divine providence to take care of them.
We can do the same thing today if we choose to work part time or work at a minimum wage job. We don’t get paid what we are worth as humans are priceless. We get paid how much our labor is worth.
Minimum wage is a living wage if you are resourceful and live cheap enough. Raising the minimum wage usually results in people who make the minimum being priced out of most apartments anyway. Also in the states that never raised the minimum wage, hardly any job still pays that low.
Just because someone doesn’t have material ambitions doesn’t mean they aren’t ambitious about something. Maybe their ambitions aren’t valued by society. Or they pursue their passion as a hobby or a ministry.
Either way a loser is defined as an outcast in society. Jesus associated with the outcasts. I doubt he told them they need to get it together and go make that money.
Today’s bible verse is Proverbs 10:22 and says the blessing of the Lord makes rich. Prosperity preachers like Kenneth Copeland love this verse. But poverty and wealth are both mindsets with true wealth being within. Knowing the Creator of the universe puts us on the level of the nobility.
God is supposed to be love. The Bible says love keeps no record of wrongs and all of that. To hear so many denominations fight over various scriptures taken out of context makes you wonder. . .
Not every Christian knows God as most are likely going to church for worldly reasons. Likewise not every non Christian is necessarily lost.
This way we can’t judge. God works in mysterious ways. He will save whoever He has mercy on.
Protestants focus so much on belief and faith alone, and not by works, that the very act of believing becomes a work that fundamentalists use to merit their way into heaven.
Ecclesiastes 1:1. . .”Meaningless, meaningless. All is meaningless.”
My favorite verse in the Bible. I also like the Geneva Bible, which predated King James. Everything after that just gets more watered down. Solomon, the wisest man in the Old Testament, wrote the most doom and gloom book that you would think he struggled with depression.
The first and last verse of Ecclesiastes pretty much say it all. But in between, the author sums up how everything under the soon is meaningless and there is nothing really new. And that was 3,000 years ago. I think it was GK Chesterton who said there was no such as progress. Underneath all the change, we are still the same people and everything is basically the same, just with a different style.
There is nothing wrong with pursuing material gain; as long as we don’t make it our identity. Everything we gain in this life will die with us, except for our faith and the good deeds we do to serve our neighbor.
Solomon goes on to say that since everything is vanity, the best we can do is find satisfaction in our work; amazingly the the vanity of everything and the enjoyment of it both come from God.
Many people will give up when they realize that life is ultimately meaningless. But the wise ones will feel a sense of freedom. That just means there is no sense of expectation that society tries to place on you. There is no need to try and “keep up” with everyone else.
Do whatever makes you happy as long as it doesn’t hurt anyone else or hinder your relationship with the Divine.
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