Thursday 19 February 2026. Readings: Deuteronomy 30:15-20, Ps. 1:1-4,6, Luke 9:22-25
“For what does it profit a man if he gains the whole world and loses or forfeits himself?” (Luke 9:25)
In today’s first reading, God speaks with tenderness, “See, I have set before you today life and good, death and evil.” (Deuteronomy 30:15). God, who made you without your cooperation, will not save you without your cooperation. God will never force His way on us. It will always be up to us to decide what becomes of us through our daily choices. We are free to choose but not to avoid the consequences of our choices.
The Psalmist paints the portrait of the one who chooses wisely: “Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked... but his delight is in the law of the Lord” (Psalm 1:1-2). Like a tree planted by streams of living water, such a soul does not wither. Seasons change, winds howl, droughts come, but roots run deep where grace flows. That person “shall prosper in all he does” (v. 3), not because life is easy, but because he is rooted firmly in God.
Those who trust in God are like trees whose leaves do not fade, for their nourishment comes from eternity. “The Lord knows the way of the righteous,” says verse 6, “but the way of the wicked will perish.” There is no middle ground. No spiritual neutrality. We are either being sustained by Living Water or drying up in the desert of self.
Trusting God means obeying His voice, regardless of the temptations that abound in our world. To trust God is a difficult choice, but it is one that you will never regret. It may mean carrying the heavy cross behind Jesus, who said, “The Son of Man must suffer many things… be rejected… be killed, and on the third day be raised.” (Luke 9:22).
Jesus did not sugar-coat discipleship. He strips it bare: “If any man would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me, for whoever would save his life will lose it; and whoever loses his life for my sake, he will save it.” (Luke 9:23). Jesus lays before us a choice to either follow him along the path of sacrifice which eventually leads to eternal life or to seek worldliness now and forfeit our souls eventually.
Two farmers had a great harvest. One chose to eat all his crops, and the other chose to save some for next season’s planting. Dear friends, the sacrifices we make today based on our relationship with God will determine how we enjoy tomorrow. As Jesus says, when we try to save our life, that is when we lose it, but when we accept to die (to pleasure, power, fame, and sin), that is when we gain life.
The farmer who chose to eat his harvest cannot blame anyone for his inability to plant the following year. We all crave the easy life, to live as if there is no tomorrow. Wise ones follow Jesus’ advice: “Enter by the narrow gate; for the gate is wide and the way is easy, that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many. For the gate is narrow and the way is hard, that leads to life, and those who find it are few.” (Matthew 7:13-14).
Let us pray: Prompt our actions with your inspiration, we pray, O Lord, and further them with your constant help, that all we do may always begin from you and by you be brought to completion. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God, forever and ever. Amen.
Be Happy. Live Positive. Have Faith. It is well with you. May God’s abundant blessings be upon us all. (Thursday after Ash Wednesday, Liturgical Colour: Violet. Bible Study: Deuteronomy 30:15-20, Ps. 1:1-4,6, Luke 9:22-25)
@Rev. Fr. Evaristus E. Abu