I love Star Trek.
Star Trek: The Next Generation may have been my best friend during junior high. I may not have always had that many friends with whom to hang out, but every night, Monday through Friday, at 7:00pm, the adventures of Captain Picard and the Enterprise were there to keep me company. I was fascinated by the future of the Star Trek universe and all the new life, new civilizations and new worlds “out there” in space.
Unfortunately, though, sometimes we treat the kingdom of God like one of those worlds “out there” instead of a current, active and present reality “right here”.
We’ll never be able to experience the Klingon homeworld of Kronos. If we view God’s kingdom as somewhere “out there”, we’ll never experience it either.
God’s kingdom isn’t some reality or idea “out there” and it’s not something we’ll only experience at our death. In Mark 1, when Jesus proclaimed that the kingdom of God had come near, he literally meant that it had come near in his person. Jesus was proclaiming that God’s kingdom isn’t “out there” but that it is near, it is imminent and we can experience it in on a daily basis.
If we think that God’s kingdom is “out there” and can only be reached by starship, then it won’t have that much of an impact on our life. If we don’t think that we can experience God’s kingdom on a daily basis then it won’t influence our choices or the people that we’re becoming.
If we can change our attitude and focus, though, and see that God’s kingdom is indeed “right here”, then we’ll live accordingly.
We’ll make choices to see God’s kingdom more deeply developed in our lives.
We’ll treat people in such a way that they’ll see God’s kingdom in our actions.
We’ll pursue activities that reveal God’s kingdom even in the darkest of places.
God’s kingdom is alive and active, waiting for us to engage and experience it. When we do that, God’s kingdom invades our hearts and transforms our lives. We become bearers of God’s kingdom to a broken and hurting world.
And while being bearers of God’s kingdom might not be as exciting as Starfleet, its impact is far greater.
How do you experience God’s kingdom on a daily basis?
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