Monday of the 2nd week in ordinary time
1 Sam. 15: 16-23 Mark 2: 18-22
Theme: The Lord has rejected you
In the 1st reading of today from first Samuel, we see Samuel delivering the message of God to king Saul. The king went to war and went against the directive given to him by God. He simply disobeyed God and carried out his desire after conquering the Amalekites. The Lord asked him to destroy everything, but instead he took the animals and said he was going to sacrifice them to the Lord, instead of obeying the word of God. He forgot that obedience to God is better than sacrifice to him. As a result of his disobedience, God has rejected him as the king over his people.
The action of king Saul points out the fact that we must never keep the directive of God aside, in a bid to satisfy ourselves or do whatever we like. It will most likely end badly, just in the case of Saul. One thing we must always remember is the fact that God never gets it wrong, so we must try to always be obedient when we deal with him. This is very important in our relationship with him, because he will never lead us astray and he knows what is best for us at any point in time. In such situations, just have faith and trust in him, even when the situation seems not to be very clear to you. The most important thing is to be certain that it is what God wants you to do in that situation. His action has led to God rejecting him as king, even though he won the war that God sent him. This is a situation that he would have been able to avoid without getting into any form of trouble, if he obeyed the directive given to him by God. In the same way, we have to learn to allow God to guide us in everything that we do, and there will be no regrets at the end.
In the gospel reading from St. Mark, the people wanted to know why John’s disciples fast, but the disciples of Jesus do not fast. Jesus in his usual way used the opportunity to teach his audience. His disciples are not fasting now because they have him with them, but a time will come when they must fast, just like the disciples of John the best. This is exactly what played out in the later part of the ministry of Jesus. This is our reality as human beings, when everything is going well for us, we are relaxed and only a few of us remember to continue praying and fasting. But the situation is different when we are going through one form of difficulty or the other in our life, we pray and fast without relaxing. This is a fact that many of us can easily relate with. As we continue to strive to be the best version of ourselves, may almighty God bless you in the name of the father and of the son and of the holy spirit, Amen. Peace be with you.