"I do not accept human praise; moreover, I know that you do not have the love of God in you. I came in the name of my Father, but you do not accept me; yet if another comes in his own name, you will accept him.”

(From John 5:31-47)

These past few days, there have been a couple of recurring themes in the words of Jesus.  First, we have his repeated testimony of, “I can do nothing apart from the Father.”  Second, he is addressing and challenging those who will not accept him.  For this Thursday, I would like to keep the thought for the day simple.  It was many years ago when I first heard the question and the expression, “have you accepted Jesus as your Lord and savior?”  Whenever I’ve heard someone ask that question or say that they themselves have accepted Christ, it always has a deeply personal tone to it.  To be sure, acceptance of Jesus must begin in our own hearts, with a conscious personal choice that we make, between us and God. Here’s the thing, though.  That’s not the only place we’re called to make such a choice.  Accepting Christ in my heart means more than just a feeling, more than just a feel-good thing.  It means, first, a commitment to the Christian way of life.  It also means—and this is where it can get tricky for many of us—accepting the person and presence of Christ in others.  Not only is this often difficult to do, I wonder if we really stop to let ourselves be reminded that this is what we’re called to do.  It is very easy to recognize and accept Christ and his presence in certain situations and people.  It is, at times, harder to do so. 

Has this season of Lent thus far broadened our vision?  Can we see Christ in more places than perhaps before?  More people than before?  How open are we to this?  Before we go to sleep tonight, perhaps we can bring to mind someone toward whom we need a renewed attitude, a wider, more open sense of vision.  As scripture calls us, we often pray, “do unto others…”  Could we not also pray, “…help me to see others and accept others as you, O God, see and accept me?”