| February 7, 2018 -- Seek ye first the Kingdom of God And His righteousness And all these things shall be added unto you Allelu Alleluia
Last summer, while inspecting an agricultural fair, I was approached by a young evangelical who wanted to know if I was preparing myself so that I could go to heaven. I argued with him, not very effectively, that I thought he had his priorities wrong. I was more concerned as to whether I was doing my part to bring the Kingdom of God here to Earth. After all, the prayer that Jesus taught us says: “Thy Kingdom come, thy will be done, on Earth”.
In the Gospel of Matthew, chapter 12, Jesus seems to say that the dawning of the Kingdom of God on Earth has already begun: “If it is by the Spirit of God that I drive out the demons, then be sure that the kingdom of God has arrived to you”.
In Luke we read that, when Jesus visited the synagogue and was handed the scroll of Isaiah, he read the passage ““The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to set the oppressed free,”, and when he had finished reading he said ““Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.”
But, you may say, it certainly doesn’t look as though the Kingdom of God is here. “Look at all the confl ict and misery around us.” Yet, what Jesus was really saying is that the Kingdom [that is, the rulership] of God is being offered to us right now, all we need to do is reach out and accept it by repenting of our sins and believing the good news that Jesus proclaims. Well, actually, one more step is required. If we believe the good news then we also need to show our belief by doing the good works that we are asked to perform. What good works are these? For a homework assignment go and reread the 25th chapter of Matthew, especially verses 31-46, the parable of the sheep and the goats. Following the examples therein you will be on the way to helping bring the Kingdom of God to fruition here on earth.
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