Two Kingdoms
Posted by Dion Todd February 26th, 2016 11,354 Views 0 Comments
For God so loved the world, that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish, but have eternal life. For God didn't send his Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world should be saved through him. He who believes in him is not judged. He who doesn't believe has been judged already John 3:16 WEB
What an amazing piece of scripture. God sent His Son Jesus to redeem us who were lost and give us eternal life. It is a choice that each of us will have to make at some point in our life. Who will you serve, yourself or God Almighty? There are two kingdoms and each side has its own arguments.
Living for yourself means that you can focus on only what you want to do, spend all your money gathering more stuff to impress people that you don't like. Morality can be dismissed as an outdated concept. You can do what is right, when it lines up with what you want to do anyway. Basically, 'do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the law.' Guess who's golden rule that is?
The downside of it is that this life and everything that you see with your eyes, is temporary and will pass away one day. It is the unseen things that are eternal (2 Cor.4:18). All the stuff that we have gathered on earth will be left behind, and only the treasures that we have stored up in heaven will be safe (Matt. 6:20).
Treasures in heaven are stored up by obedience to God, loyalty, putting God first in your life. As Jesus went on to say in Matthew 6:24, 'No one can serve two masters.' Materialism is a direct conflict with serving God. It is ok to have money, but it is not ok for money to have you.
Serving God will sometimes be painful because He is in control instead of you. If you take a knife away from a small child, they may cry because they want to play with it, even though it is dangerous for them. So it is with us. Sometimes we want what is bad and He says, 'No', so we whine.
There will be times when doing what is right is not convenient, or pleasant. It may cost you dearly. He may tell you to give something away that you would rather keep. You will have to tell the truth when it hurts, rather than telling the easy lie. Let no one tell you that living a life dedicated to God will be easy, for it is a direct conflict with our flesh.
When our life winds down and death approaches, the choice becomes a bit more clear. What if there is an eternity and the Bible is correct? Then the one that accepted Jesus will spend eternity in paradise, while those that rejected Him will be cast out and live in torment. We can choose to live for Jesus today.
While you are still breathing, there is hope. Paul wrote: 'that if you will confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus, and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart, one believes unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. For the Scripture says, 'Whoever believes in him will not be disappointed' (Romans 10:9'11).
We have nothing in the past that matters any more. Today is a new day and there is nothing there that can hold us back. The only thing standing between us and the Lord Jesus, is us. Today is the first day of the rest of your life. Make the choice, live it for Jesus.
Prayer: Father, forgive me of my sins and the things that I have done wrong. I am sorry. Jesus, come into my life and be my Lord and Savior. Fill me with Your Holy Spirit and guide me from this day forth. My life, is now Yours.