A Reading
But because of your stubbornness and your unrepentant heart you are storing up wrath against yourself for the day of wrath when God's righteous judgment will be revealed. God will give to each person according to what he has done. To those who by persistence in doing good seek glory and honour and immortality, he will give eternal life. But for those who are self-seeking and do reject the truth and follow evil, there will be wrath and anger.(Romans 2:5-8)
A Thought
I enjoy watching Poirot on Freeview channel 10. Recently I started to read Agatha Christie’s short stories upon which the films are based.
During 1923 Agatha Christie was authoring a new story every week for readers of The Sketch. This amused me, since I have a weekly commitment to author a new Thought for the Day. I wondered how much time we each spent on our respective tasks.
Agatha seeks to expose wrongdoing in fictional characters, a task which may not be very onerous. I try to highlight positive outcomes that I experience in my general duties, and which might be more difficult to detect.
Everyone tries to conceal their wrongdoings and promote their own good deeds. On such matters, the ‘little grey cells’ mean that Poirot cannot be deceived.
Fiction aside however, we will all face judgement before Jesus. Our wrongdoings will condemn us, unless through faith we call upon Jesus and repent of our sins.
Our sins may thereby be removed from the judgement, but we are still accountable for an absence or shortage of good deeds. It is not a sufficient objective to avoid harming others, we also need to help others.
On such matters, Jesus cannot be deceived. For the witness of the Holy Spirit is far more inciteful than the little grey cells of Hercule Poirot.
A prayer
Forgive us our trespasses,
as we forgive those who trespass against us,
And lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from evil.
Amen