In the book, “Servant God”, the author writes “God’s Kingdom is not defined by conquering our enemies in battlefields or courts of law but rather through our service and love for them. God’s Kingdom spreads by persuasion and truth, not force and coercion.” How often have we gotten this wrong throughout history? How often are we still getting it wrong in our everyday lives? We confuse politics with religion, and action with faith. Our job is to love and serve others, just like Jesus did. People are won for the Kingdom of God when they recognize the futility of their own efforts and their need for something outside of themselves to save them. They turn to God when they come to understand what He sacrificed on our behalf.
I Peter
Your Life Script
Whose life are you living? Are you engaged in the things that allow you to utilize the gifts God has given to you? Do you seek to glorify Him even when it means looking foolish in the eyes of your family and friends? Too few of us live like this. Instead we live out our days blending in with the culture while looking for any opening we can find to get ahead. Rather than living as God planned for us to live, we cave to the pressures of life and seek comfort in alternative solutions. As a result, we end up living from a script written by someone other than our Creator.
The Way of the Disciple
Not many look at each moment of their life as an opportunity to serve God. Time passes so quickly and we lead such frenzied lives that we scarcely notice the opportunities we miss and the decisions we make by rote. It is for this reason that we do not experience great growth in our spiritual lives. Until we learn to capture each moment we encounter, we will struggle to live our life wholly devoted to Christ. A life that is wholly His recognizes every decision is an opportunity to say yes to God and no to our selfish desires. Every breath we take, every thought we think, is a new opportunity to die to ourselves and find ourselves alive in Christ.
Pleasing God
In 2 Timothy 2:4, Paul tells us that “No one serving as a soldier gets entangled in the concerns of civilian life; he seeks to please the recruiter.” We somehow have forgotten about this part of scripture. It’s always far more convenient to only talk about those areas that are comfortable for us, or the commands with which we don’t struggle. In the passage above, the recruiter is obviously Jesus. He loves you and has been drawing you towards Him your entire life. Getting “entangled in the concerns of civilian life” means becoming obsessed with achieving success outside of His kingdom or constantly striving to acquire all the stuff that your neighbors and society at large have convinced you that you need.
It’s All about Love
Everything we do for Christ, every one of His commands, comes back to a single word: love. Whether it’s seeking to bring justice to the oppressed or set victims of human trafficking free (Isaiah 58:6), we do this out of love. When we feed the hungry or provide clean water to villages that previously had no access to it (Matthew 25:35), we demonstrate God’s love. Using our time and resources to care for the single mothers or homeless people (James 1:27) demonstrates our love for them. Love is the key to every ill of our society. It is the salve for every wound and conflict. Love is the only answer, and it looks exactly like Jesus.