Thought of the Day !!

(Jesus) was praying in a certain place, and after he had finished, one of his disciples said to him, "Lord, teach us to pray, as John taught his disciples." He said to them, "When you pray, say: Father, hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come."
Luke 11:1-2 (NRSV)

This is not all that Jesus said in this passage. He goes on to teach his disciples what we now call the Lord's Prayer. But I was thinking about a portion of this prayer that I wonder if we really want to come true or not. Do we really want God's Kingdom to come here on earth? In the Gospel of Matthew Jesus is recorded as saying it the way we think about it when we recite this prayer: "Your Kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in Heaven." Luke shortens it to simply state, "Your Kingdom come."

Either way, I assume that if God's Kingdom and/or His will were to come and be done, our lives would be different. I believe it would mean different things for us such as:

• It would mean that we'd welcome any and everybody into our worship service…no matter who they were.
• It would mean that we'd not only invite people into our worship setting, but also into our lives.
• It would mean that we'd not only treat everyone as equals, but also see them as such.
• It would mean that everyone would find time during the week to worship God in a private way and also in a corporate way.
• It would mean that we'd all give of our time and money to the church (which is the people who make up the body of Christ and not a specific group or denomination).
• It would mean that we'd have to think less about how things have always been done and more about how they can be done to help promote the love of Christ in today's world.
• It would mean that there'd be no sexual misconduct or drunkenness, no backbiting or gossip or crude remarks or jokes or hurtful acts of any sort. We'd give all that up.
• It would mean that people wouldn't be hungry because we'd share our food with all those around us.
• It would mean that we we wouldn't worry about whether or not someone deserved our help.
• It would mean that people wouldn't be lonely because we'd make sure that there was always a place for them.
• It would mean that we'd leave the job of judging others to the one most qualified to do so, Jesus.
• It would mean that we'd take our sins seriously and not make excuses.
• It would mean that we'd love God with our whole beings and love each other as Christ loves us.
• It would mean that we'd give up selfishness for humility and service.

I wonder if this is a part of what it's like in God's Kingdom in Heaven? If so then when we pray that God's Kingdom come, we are praying for just these things.

Could it be that we're not only supposed to pray for God's Kingdom to come, but to also work on bringing it about? I'd say most definitely. So I urge you to take this list and add to it all the ways that you can help usher God's Kingdom here on earth. Let us all pray for God's Kingdom as we work for the results.

In the love of Christ,
greg