Daily Devotional

Self-confession: I am an epic fantasy movie junkie. Whether it is The Lord of the Rings, Robin Hood, or any movie about knights set in the Middle Ages, I’m watching. There is an attraction to the idea of good versus evil and a struggle in which good prevails, but not without a struggle. The plot of these movies is as old as time itself. Ever since Genesis and original sin in the garden, there has been a struggle within humanity—the struggle between God and Satan, with humans caught in the middle.

I think one way of looking at this struggle is as a struggle over “kingdom.” The word “kingdom” appears 316 times across 42 books in the Bible, with 55 references within the book of Matthew alone. So, you might say we should have a good understanding of “kingdom.”

Jesus taught extensively about the idea of the kingdom. He taught us to pray for God’s kingdom to come. So, is the kingdom an entity that we think of as being like a movie, where people fight to expand the borders of a geographic space? Is Jesus praying that God the Father would come down to establish His “kingdom” on this geographic space we call Earth?

No. The context in which Jesus is speaking is about the reign or rule of God. Throughout Jesus’ time on earth, He taught about this concept of “kingdom.” He did so in the context of wanting to see people give their lives to God, allowing Him to reign or rule in their lives.

First and foremost, Jesus calls us to be a part of God’s kingdom through His substitutionary death on the cross—our salvation. Then, as people who are saved, we get to share in the glory of God’s kingdom. But we don’t always do so.

And now we are back to the movie’s theme of a struggle: the battle between sin and righteousness.  Our “fleshly desires” which wants to allow the kingdom of sin to rule in our lives versus the kingdom of God and righteous living. This is the sanctification process.

So, beloved reader, I encourage you, first of all, to come into the kingdom of God if you are not already.  If you are already under the reign of God Almighty, live under that rule to serve and fulfill the purposes of God in your life!

Let us live “kingdom minded.”