This is Not Wishful Thinking
I want the world to sing in her Native Tongue
To sing it like when we were young
Back before the pendulum had swung to the shadow
I want the world to sing in her Native Tongue
Maybe we could learn to sing along
To find a way to use our lungs for love and not the shadow.
(©️Jon Foreman, Tim Foreman, Brent Kutzle)
The shadow is so easy to see and so familiar to us. Each week there are news reports about the darkness of man. It seems we think the commandments of God say we should murder, steal, lie, commit adultery, and covet. Last week's killings in the U.S. bring another reminder that the pendulum of humanity has swung to the shadow. It is clear to see there is something broken inside mankind.
For more proof of that brokenness we can also look within our own hearts. Like a good guy in the Bible named Paul says, “The good I want to do, I often don’t do. The bad I don’t want to do, I often do. What a confused and wretched man I am.”
But that is not the whole story.
For those who believe in the God of the Bible, we know mankind was made in the image of God. We know being a slave to the sinful nature inside of us is not our only option. We know the shadow did not rule in the beginning, and the shadow will not rule in the end. Though we hear the news stations' continuous reporting of bad news, we also hear the Spirit of God within us continuously singing the good news. Though we walk in this world filling our lungs with the air of carnage and shadow, we take time each day to be caught up with God in the abundant skies, where we take deep breaths of hope, joy and peace.
This is not pretending. This is not wishful thinking. This relationship with God is real and transforming. The shadow of death that hangs heavy in this world is real, no doubt. But it is not as real as the glory of the kingdom of heaven.
How do I know the glory of the kingdom of heaven is more real?
The glory of the kingdom of heaven preexisted this world's shadows.
The glory of the kingdom of heaven will continue to exist long after this world burns out.
The glory of the kingdom of heaven is God, who was and is and is to come.
The glory of the kingdom of heaven sustained me through the dark shadow of my dad’s suicide and my mom’s cancerous death.
Today, please take some time and invite the glory of the kingdom of heaven into your life by taking time to...
Pray by casting your cares on Jesus
Worship by listening to some worship songs or writing your own down in a journal
Read some Psalms and write on your hand a phrase that speaks to you
Ask someone to share what God is teaching them
If you go through these steps of drawing near to God and seeking His face, God Himself promises He will draw near to you and you will find Him.
See you Sunday for our next sermon on our Origins of Innocence.
David