Who among you would say to your servant, coming in from the fields after plowing or tending
sheep, ‘Go ahead and have your dinner’? No, you tell him, ‘Prepare my dinner. Put on your
apron, and wait on me while I eat and drink. You can eat and drink afterward.’ Do you thank
this servant for doing what you told him to do? I don’t think so. And therefore, when you have
done all that you have been told to do, you should say, ‘We are no more than servants; we
have only done our duty.’”
“Increase our faith.”
Read:
The Lord tells prophet Habakkuk to wait patiently for the fulfilment of the vision given. Paul
highlights the need to fan into flame the gifts received from the Lord. Jesus assures the
disciples that genuine faith does work wonders.
Reflect:
There is a story about a woman who, having read the gospel about faith moving trees,
decided to test it on a tree that was leaning over her house. She went out to the courtyard
with the Bible in her hand, read the passage out aloud, and declared to the tree: “I have faith
far bigger than the mustard seed. So, I ask you to uproot yourself from here and go elsewhere.
” Nothing happened. Closing the Bible and with a sigh of resignation, she said to herself:
“I knew it wouldn’t work.” Is this lady very different from us? Faith is a gift that, once received,
must be “fanned into flame” as St. Paul tells us today, by praying incessantly as the apostles
did: “Lord, increase our faith.” Genuine faith also involves a capacity to wait patiently and in
hope for God’s vision to unfold in His time.
Pray:
“Lord, increase our faith!”
Act:
Identify a problem that vexes you and write down how you can approach it with faith.
© Copyright Bible Diary 2022