What’re You Waiting For?

Byron LeavittHistory, Kingdom Come Project, Worldview Leave a Comment

What do you feel like you’ve been put on this earth to do?

Why aren’t you doing it?

I know a lot of people who have dreams for their lives.  In fact, I might know as many people who have dreams as I do people.  But how many of those people are actually living — or even actively pursuing — the things that they most want to be doing?  I think it’s very few, really.

Sometimes the vision is fuzzy and you just aren’t sure what direction to take.  But sometimes it’s as clear as a bell, and it’s driving you crazy that you don’t know what to do about it.

I believe whole-heartedly in the Kingdom of Heaven.  After all, life springs eternal, right?  But the thing is, that’s not what I’m talking about at all.  (At least not currently.)  Jesus said we should pray that “Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.”(1)  In another place he says, “Repent, for the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand.”(2)  And Paul says, speaking about Jesus, the second coming of Christ, and the Kingdom, “Then comes the end, when he delivers the kingdom to God the Father after destroying every rule and every authority and power. For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet.”(3)  Now, he’s not talking about Jesus reigning during some far-away epic war: he’s talking about him reigning right up until he gives the kingdom to his father at the second coming.  He’s talking about Christ ruling today.

The Kingdom of Heaven is here.  The Kingdom of Heaven is now.  And the Kingdom of Heaven is spreading.

It’s been here for a long time, too.  One of the definitions for the term apostle (or apostolos in the Greek) was an emissary or ambassador for Rome.  Sometimes this took the form of a leader of a group of colonists to a foreign land, and sometimes this was the general of a military expedition.  In either case, the apostle was a messenger carrying Roman culture to a foreign people.(4)  Jesus chose this term deliberately.  He wanted the Roman war machine to know that a greater Kingdom was coming.  But this would not be a kingdom that converted through conquest and enslavement: instead it would be one that advanced entirely contrary to what humanity’s wisdom would say was the only way.  It would advance through love.  Through every little act of kindness.  Through serving.  And in so doing it would topple empires.  Within a couple of generations that was exactly what happened, too.

So, if I’m right, why don’t we see more of this Kingdom at work in our world today?  Where is it?  Why isn’t it overtaking the systems of man?  There are several reasons why we don’t see it.  One is because we don’t know our history.  Another is because we don’t see the picture of what’s happening around the globe, especially in areas not considered Western/European society.  Another is because our eschatology (beliefs about the end times) flushed the church’s involvement as salt and light in society down the toilet about fifty or sixty years ago.  (“Do you polish the brass on a sinking ship?” quoth J. Vernon McGee.(5))  But the reason I really want to focus on today is because we aren’t leading the advancement of culture.  It’s time you and I changed that.

You have a purpose.  You have a reason for existing.  You were meant for great things.  And those dreams and desires you have inside you?  Those are there because they were put there.

Why do I love writing so much?  Why do I thrive on creating and wonder and philosophizing and theology?  For that matter, why do I love monsters and weird stuff and nature in all its bizarre eccentricities?  Maybe it’s because I was made this way.

Why do you love sculpting?  Or drawing?  Or working on cars?  Or selling?  Or making music?  Or teaching children?  Or feeding the poor?  Or caring for the sick?  Or speaking to groups?  Or saving the endangered (human or otherwise)?  Maybe it’s because you were made that way.

And here’s the truth: it is more possible today to make our dreams come true than it ever was before.  Within minutes (well, okay, hours) you can have a website up, a Facebook page collecting likes, and the start of something great being fanned into flames.  All we need is a good swift kick in the pants and the tools at hand to get it started.

My swift kick in the pants came in the form of cancer.  But yours doesn’t have to.  In fact, my hope is that this little rant will serve you just fine.

I’ve said it before, I’m going to say it again: you were meant for great things.  And you only get one shot at this life, so why not make it the life that you always dreamed it could be?

I’m going to write more on this, because it’s a topic I am very passionate about.  But until that time comes, just be thinking: “what do I feel like I’m built for?”  “What makes me happier when I’m doing it than anything else?”  “What makes the time fly by and leaves me at the end of the day contented?”  “If money wasn’t an object, what would I be doing?”

It doesn’t have to be big, and it doesn’t have to make sense at this point.  You don’t need a concrete plan yet (and you certainly shouldn’t quit your day job.)  But just be thinking about it.  Gather your insights, write them down, and do some deep soul-searching.  Take that first step.  And if you’ve already taken it, don’t worry.  We’ll get to you next time.

The Kingdom needs you.  We need you.  The world needs you.

What’re you waiting for?

What’s your dream?  I’d love to hear it in the comments below!

 

References

  1. Matthew 6:10 (ESV)

  2. Matthew 4:17b (ESV)

  3. 1 Corinthians 15:24-25 (ESV)

  4. http://www.wenstrom.org/downloads/written/word_studies/greek/apostolos.pdf; http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apostle

  5. http://americanvision.org/3596/do-you-polish-the-brass-on-a-sinking-ship/#sthash.3kiF4eYv.dpbs


Image (c) Can Stock Photo

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