wealth reconsidered…and the unstoppable growth of the Kingdom of God.

SCRIPTURE:

Leviticus 8-9, Psalm 49, Luke 13

OBSERVATION:

From Psalm 49:

16 Be not afraid when a man becomes rich,
when the glory of his house increases.
17 For when he dies he will carry nothing away;
his glory will not go down after him.
18 For though, while he lives, he counts himself blessed
—and though you get praise when you do well for yourself—
19 his soul will go to the generation of his fathers,
who will never again see light.
20 Man in his pomp yet without understanding is like the beasts that perish.

This text always catches my eye.  What a great message it has…particularly for our uber-competitive money-hungry culture…we’re not to be captivated by the stuff and the trinkets that the wealthy have.  the text acknowledges the obvious advantages of wealth, and the accompanying praise from others.  However, it also makes it clear that that wealth, if not accompanied with knowledge of the truth, can’t buy anything in the Kingdom of God.

from Luke 13:

18 He said therefore, “What is the kingdom of God like? And to what shall I compare it? 19 It is like a grain of mustard seed that a man took and sowed in his garden, and it grew and became a tree, and the birds of the air made nests in its branches.”

20 And again he said, “To what shall I compare the kingdom of God? 21 It is like leaven that a woman took and hid in three measures of flour, until it was all leavened.”

Jesus was so abstract when he talked about the kingdom of God.  I can’t recall that he ever said that the kingdom of God IS anything (well, other than saying what it IS doing)…no, he didn’t say much at all about what it is, just what it is like.  Lots of different comparison….all helpful, none complete.  The kingdom of God is indescribable…it’s a spiritual dynamic that just doesn’t line up with our physical realm and physical perspective.

with these two comparisons…I think he’s letting us know that the Kingdom of God is ever expanding and growing. Multliplying.  Maybe not overnight…but it’s inevitable.  The KOG grows from a seed to a tree.  Or, slowly but surely, the KOG works it’s way through and permeates everything!   Perhaps the opening parable in this chapter is referring to the same thing:

6 And he told this parable: “A man had a fig tree planted in his vineyard, and he came seeking fruit on it and found none.7 And he said to the vinedresser, ‘Look, for three years now I have come seeking fruit on this fig tree, and I find none. Cut it down. Why should it use up the ground?’ 8 And he answered him, ‘Sir, let it alone this year also, until I dig around it and put on manure. 9 Then if it should bear fruit next year, well and good; but if not, you can cut it down.’”

Given time to grow…the KOG will flourish and multiply.  This is both large and small scale.  throughout the world the KOG is forcefully advancing, growing, leavening, working it’s way through everything by the power of God.  At the same time, the KOG is growing and multiplying in me…and in every other believer.

APPLICATION:

Well, my first application is to be sure to not be over-awed by the wealth of others…but instead, to live for things that aren’t passing away.

And the second is, frankly, to be encouraged!  To be encouraged knowing that the KOG is growing and advancing and that while it may not happen on my timetable…it is moving and growing!  And while I may not always be satisfied with the current rate of my own spiritual growth…i can take comfort in knowing that the deposit put in me by the Holy Spirit will continue to slowly but surely work it’s way through every part of me, inside and out.

PRAYER:

Lord, i love you deeply!  You are worthy of all praise!

Father, help me to keep my eyes focused on the wonder of you…and not on the stuff that other people may have.  you are the prize…not the quickly fading stuff of this world!

and Lord, remind me constantly that your kingdom is forcefully advancing…show me how I can take hold of it…and help me to recognize it all around me.  Also, I know that the KOG is working and growing in me as well…help me, Lord, to be fully surrendered to the leadership of ‘Christ in me’…and give me wisdom to be a help an not a hurt, to the process of it working it’s way through all of me, and transforming me through and through.

In the name of Jesus, Amen.