the message:day 2
[Read & meditate on Matthew 4.17. Again, in the Jewish mind, the kingdom of God wasn’t a place or a time, but a condition in which the rule of God is acknowledged by people–a condition to which God’s promises of a restored universe (free from sin and death) are or begin to be fulfilled. Imagine what that will be like.]
Rest. That’s the first thing that comes to mind. It seems like maintaining my own kingdom takes so much work and effort. It’s hard to hold my world together! I have a hard time managing sin on my own and death is something that is out of my control. So, when I am living in my own kingdom and if feels like I am losing control, my fear drives me to do whatever I can to hold it together, whatever the cost. It wears me down and it wears others down as well.
If I don’t have to maintain my kingdom, I can be free to experience true relationships with God and others. I don’t have to prove that I measure up–my life is measured by God’s standards, not the standards of others or myself. God measures me through Jesus who has invited me into his kingdom.
I think there is also a sense of rest in that if God’s kingdom is the way things are supposed to be, then it’s a perfect fit. That’s what I want. That’s what I need.
What kind of world do I dream of?
What kind of world does Jesus dream of?
Which world am I living for?
Which kind of world do I want to live for?
why does it seen that it’s harder now to wrap my mind around things than it was a few years ago…it seems like i’m becoming the old dog in “can’t teach an old dog new tricks” the worst part about it is that i’m not even that old…i know some people are probably laughing at this 21 year old thinking he’s losing his mind. But really…after hearing this weeks massage 3 times…yeah, 3. I still can’t really understand what it’s all about. Why can’t we all be like children and absorb this stuff in and keep it and understand it?
I wonder if sometimes it just takes a little time to absorb, maybe this will help:
“The point of following Jesus isn’t simply so that we can be sure of going to a better place than this after we die. Our future beyond death is enormously important, but the nature of the Christian hope is such that it plays back into the present life. We’re called, here and now, to be instruments of God’s new creation, the world-put-to-rights which has already been launched in Jesus and of which Jesus’s followers are supposed to be not simply beneficiaries but also agents” (N.T. Wright, Simply Christian)
I think Jesus is delivering a message that invites us to enter into his new reality (think Neo discovering about the Matrix)where we don’t just sit there and bide our time, but we join God in putting people’s lives and this world back together, and as we do that we discover that God is putting us back together. Does this help? Let me know.
it’s easier for me to understand it when it’s worded like “We’re called here and now” i like that.