Dailyr reflection _ true discipleship

TRUE DISCIPLESHIP
As His disciples, we are called to be as kind and generous as He is…
Deacon John Ruscheinsky
There is a big difference between a bribe and a gift. A bribe is some kind of payment given with the view of perverting the judgment or corrupting the conduct of a person in a position of power. A bribe, rather than being a generous act, is really a selfish one. A gift is an expression of love with no strings attached. One who gives a gift in the proper spirit does not do so in order to receive something in return.
The people to whom Isaiah preached looked upon God as someone with a lot of power whom they could bribe. Despite their lack of genuine piety, they expected to win favors from God by bribing Him with meaningless prayers and sacrifices. You may wonder how the people could have so deceived themselves. The answer is that they had allowed themselves to be influenced by the approach of their pagan neighbors to their gods.
Isaiah was warning the people that they must be different from the pagans and their perverse view of religion. The blunt, almost shocking, words of Jesus in the Gospel have much the same purpose. His point about coming to spread division, even within families, was His way of stating emphatically that His followers must not allow themselves to be influenced by anyone who would turn them away from sound religion.
What influences us today? Our media, TV, someone who might want to push their own agenda, or want you to only see it their way, our government leaders, and so on and so on. We need to truly discern what truth is and what we should believe in, and to truly know ourselves and our relationship with our God. The love of God compels us to choose who will be first in our lives. To place any relationship or anything else above God, we as Christians know is a form of idolatry. A true disciple loves God above all else and is willing to forsake all for Jesus. Jesus insists that His disciples give Him the loyalty which is due only to God, a loyalty which is higher than even that due our families.
True love for God compels us to express charity towards our neighbor who is created in the image and likeness of God. Jesus declared that those who show any kindness and give any help to God's people will not lose the reward waiting for them. Jesus never refused to give to anyone in need who asked for His help. As His disciples, we are called to be as kind and generous as He is, and to share the truth that comes from the Gospel in a world that needs to hear it. We as Christians can truly influence the world to the truth by proclaiming it daily from our lips, "What a true gift!" Jesus sets before us the one goal in life that is worth any sacrifice, and that goal is the will of God which produces real life and ultimate and completely satisfying peace.
We prayed today in the responsorial psalm, "It's to the upright I will show the saving power of God" (Ps 50). Our heavenly Father does not need our sacrifices, our offerings, our money, or our blood. God wants the sincerity of our devotion and the love of our hearts!