Thought for the Day - Friday 4 June

1 Chronicles 29:11 (New Living Translation) Yours, O Lord, is the greatness, the power, the glory, the victory, and the majesty. Everything in the heavens and on earth is yours, O Lord, and this is your kingdom. We adore you as the one who is over all things. This passage of scripture comes from the last chapter in the book of 1st Chronicles and tells us of the preparations King David is making for the building of God’s temple before handing the kingship and the responsibility for overseeing the building of the temple to his son, Solomon.  God had instructed David that this was what he wished to happen and David complied. In the previous chapter, David advises his son to; get to know the God of his ancestors and to worship and serve him with his whole heart and a willing mind.  He reminds Solomon that God sees every heart and understands every plan or thought, if you seek him, you will find him but if you forsake him, he will reject you forever.  David finishes by saying ‘so take this seriously, the Lord has chosen you to build his temple on earth so, be strong and do the work. I wonder if we were asked what was the main topic that Jesus kept repeating throughout his ministry, we would all come up with different answers.  At the beginning of his ministry Jesus preached the good news that the kingdom of God was close.  After selecting his disciples, he went throughout the land preaching the good news of the kingdom of God.  Later he gave the disciples the power to heal and to preach the kingdom of God.  After the resurrection, he appeared to the disciples over a period of 40 days and spoke about the kingdom of God. I’m sure most who read this will have repeated the Lord’s prayer many times throughout their lives where one of the lines in it reads: ‘Thy kingdom come’.  Do we ever stop and think what this and the other lines in the same prayer mean?  We sing the hymn ‘seek ye first the kingdom of God and his righteousness’.  Do we actually know what we are seeking? It’s quite a deep subject but I read an interesting concept of what heaven or the kingdom of God would be like.  When we sin in this life and we all do, it might be the case that we choose to do these wrong things in private or where we hope nobody will notice.  If, in God’s kingdom, his presence is everywhere, this option of sinning ‘in private’ will not be available to us.  I guess the kingdom of God in heaven will be a place where the temptation to sin will not exist unlike this world where temptation is all around and there are challenges to be met.  These challenges are real but do not come close to those that Jesus faced on our behalf or the challenges that the apostles faced in the days of the early church. Our church is going through a difficult time at the moment and it’s not just about getting folks to fill the increasingly empty pews, it’s about finding the means of getting people of all ages and backgrounds to seek the kingdom of God.  As David instructs Solomon in today’s passage, the same instruction rests with those who march under the banner of Jesus today, ‘be strong and do the work’. Prayer Our Lord and our God, We thank you for coming into this world and living your life as an example for all mankind until you return.  Give us the will to read from scripture and help us grasp the real meaning you intend for us.  Help us not to be deceived by false teaching and as David taught Solomon, if there is work for us to do on the Lord’s behalf, then let us ‘be strong and do the work’  Amen