Your kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and your dominion endures through all generations. Psalm 145:13
Considering eternity, I’m challenged by the quote, ‘Many long for eternity, when they don’t know what to do on a wet Sunday afternoon’. (Susan Ertz, 1887-198) I can quickly grow bored but pursuing a prayerful life has, with twists and turns, brought me into a space where I can’t remember experiencing boredom.
I’m no saint, but time is now my friend and not something I struggle with. Is this age-related? As I interact with my peers I hear stories of ‘being at a loose end’.
The great thing about God’s forever Kingdom is that it expresses its partial shape here on earth. It’s not awaiting Jesus’ second coming but begins the moment we yield to Jesus. Now we navigate mortality with the Kingdom both present and ahead of us. I’ve learnt I can live my life three ways. The first only requires me to serve the letter of the Christian Law.
Church attendance and affirming biblical truths, whilst I simply live as I choose. There is always a shadow of deceit, of self and others, as I refuse to live an authentic faith born of my personal battles. A second, and more honest, approach is to let life happen and spend my time reacting to my circumstances.
This is exhausting and only ever reveals the worst aspects of my character. This is because I am reacting from my own sentiments created by my situation.
These may feel like my true feelings, but are in fact no more than my preferences in reaction to what I don’t like. Finally, I can acknowledge my immediate reaction without choosing to express it.
Here I might pause and review the landscape I’m entering into and take a moment to discover Jesus now; Jesus as Jesus is and not as I might like Jesus to be. I resist running away in fear and anger nor grudgingly accepting my lot as some sacrificial victim.
Something to Consider: How do you choose to live your life in God?
An Action to Take: Help build God’s Kingdom by the choices you make. You’re invited to gaze upon God, and as this becomes your practice so all other distractions and diversions become nothing other than unwelcome interruptions.
A Prayer to Make: ‘Lord, may Your Kingdom come and Your will be done on earth in and through my life.’
Photo by parinay clickers on Unsplash
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