Reigning On Earth

And you have caused them to become a Kingdom of priests for our God. And they will reign on the earth.” [Revelation 5.10]

The "them" in this passage are "...people [ransomed by the blood of the Lamb] for God from every tribe and language and people and nation."

These people would be believers. I am a believer. So, because I believe, I have been made a priest for God - as part of His Kingdom. It is my place to reign on earth.

But what does reigning on earth mean?

I am guessing it means to live on earth like Jesus lived on earth. If nothing else in the Bible explains it, the fact that Jesus spoke often about the Kingdom of God and walked the earth like He did should be all the evidence we need that we too are to be focused on the Kingdom of God and walk on the earth as Jesus did.

Simple, right? Not so fast...

Modern man lives in a time when the complexities of life affect Kingdom work and Kingdom walk enormously. Just our social and economic structures require inordinate amounts of time and energy to support. 

But beyond our social and economic obligations, mankind has become so entitled to pleasure that we feel that any "free time"we get is ours to take for "me time" or "down time" or any number of descriptive phrases for doing nothing of Kingdom significance.

All of this must change. Any man who is going to reign on earth must learn to live and walk outside the confines of social and economic restraints. And, even more importantly, he must learn to live and walk outside the prison of self-centeredness - to break the chains of self-worship, self-focus, self-preservation, self-help, and all the other self-isms that prevent him from reigning as a priest in God's Kingdom.

So, "simple" does not describe Kingdom reign. The more appropriate word would be "sacrifice" ...kind of like Jesus did! And, like Jesus, our sacrifice will be centered around a life of much prayer, as Jesus was a man Who went off to pray "often."

Father, I know these thoughts today are from You. I know I live far too fast and furious to be of any real significant Kingdom use.Help me to adjust my life - to make the sacrifices necessary - to reign in Your Kingdom as a priest...