Kingdom Building

November 14, 2019

Scripture Reading:
2 Thessalonians 3:6-13

Now we command you, beloved, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, to keep away from believers who are living in idleness and not according to the tradition that they received from us. For you yourselves know how you ought to imitate us; we were not idle when we were with you, and we did not eat anyone’s bread without paying for it; but with toil and labor we worked night and day, so that we might not burden any of you. This was not because we do not have that right, but in order to give you an example to imitate. –2 Thessalonians 3:6-9

The greatest challenge facing those who are striving to be the Body of Christ in the world today is that Christ’s vision is fully inclusive. All God’s children have roles to play in initiating the Kingdom of God throughout the world. A big part of what we are called to do is enable all people to actualize fully their gifts and talents while working together. That may be the hardest assignment of all.

I saw a sign recently that read something to the effect that the devil does not want to destroy us; the devil wants to distract us. Evil wants to capture our talents for evil’s purpose. That is often accomplished by causing discord which divides us rather than makes us one. It might be a good habit in all our lives to consider carefully any issue that arises in our working together to ascertain if the divisive factors are even related to the tasks at hand and whether completing the work before us is our primary goal.

Prayer: Lord guide us to find unity in combining our gifts and talents to bring about your vision for our world. Amen.

All scriptures are quoted from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicized Edition, copyright 1989, 1995, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights are reserved.