We pleaded with you, encouraged you, and urged you to live your lives in a way that God would consider worthy. For he called you to share in his Kingdom and glory. [1 Thessalonians 2.12]
Paul makes a little statement here that is amazingly powerful in its implication.
For he called you to share in his Kingdom and glory.
To share in God Kingdom is one very big thing. But to share in His Kingdom AND His glory? Mind blowing!
Regardless how big or mind blowing it is, the fact that we share in God's Kingdom and glory is the very thing Jesus revealed in His life and ministry.
I don't know how it happened, but in modern Christianity, it seems we have very little concept of this important fact. Oh sure, we believe in Jesus and anticipate His return, but the faith we mostly see today is passive. There is a foundation of what Jesus did on our behalf. There is a "roof" (if you will) of Jesus' return. But we are precariously missing the building in between! That "building" is the same active work we see documented about Jesus' ministry in the Bible. In other words, it is Kingdom work - work empowered by glory - God's glory.
When Jesus laid hands on the blind, they saw! When Jesus spoke to demons, they fled! When Jesus called the dead to rise, they lived! Why did Jesus do all this? To show us what God's Kingdom and glory do! Jesus showed us what we are to do between His resurrection and His return!
And, this is how we are to live our lives in a way that God considers worthy!
Father, help us to live our lives in a way that You consider worthy. Help us comprehend what it means for us to live and minister Your Kingdom and glory.
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