Why do you not judge for yourselves what is right? If you are to go with your opponent before a magistrate, make an effort to settle the matter on the way; otherwise your opponent will turn you over to the judge, and the judge will hand you over to the constable, and the constable throw you into prison. I say to you, you will not be released until you have paid the last penny. (Luke 12:57-59 New American Bible translation)
The words “on the way” grabbed my attention here because I pictured the path of our journey. We all have our demons (opponent) and I feel Jesus is telling us to use our journey here on earth to rid ourselves of our demons. That we will not be released (truly happy) until we have paid the last penny (until we have put in the work). How do we do that?
Someone once told me there are 14 inches between heaven and hell. What? That’s way too close! LOL! She was kind enough to explain that there are 14 inches between the heart (heaven) and the mind/brain (hell). I never forgot that. It helped put a lot of things into perspective for me.
It seems to me that the more we operate from the mind, the more we are “possessed” by our demons. We feel weighed down, anxious, sad, depressed and negative. Our thoughts can wreak havoc on our lives. That incessant chatter – be aware of it but DON’T LISTEN! It never stops, but when we become aware of it and remember that short distance between heaven and hell, we can make a conscious effort to choose heaven! The more we operate from the heart the more we are guided by the Spirit. We feel blessed, grateful, happy, light, fully alive and positive. What does it mean to operate from the heart? For me it means to follow the commandments – which can be summarized simply as LOVE! Isn’t that what we’ve all come to understand the heart to represent?
The message is quite simple: Follow your heart – Be Love; Share Love!
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