Beyond the Simple

When our children were small, we decided to make a change in the way our children prayed their evening prayers. Previously, their prayers were full of requests. They would pray “help Daddy, help Mummy, help Grandpa, help Grandma,” etc. We decided that this was too vague, and wanted to instill thankfulness in their hearts. By introducing thankfulness, we would then be able to easily lead them to praise at a later time. Then, their prayers changed to “thank you for Mummy,” etc. One day, as my son continued his prayer, he said: Thank you Jesus for toys, for our Pastor, for socks,” etc. This time, he just happened to put our pastor at the same level with his socks and toys.

At that moment, I laughed at his simple treatment of the things in life. It is good for us to thank God for every detail of our lives. He takes care of the details of our lives because of his love and care for us. Yet, we can look beyond the simple things in life and look to something great and awesome he has given us: The Kingdom of God. The Bible says that the Kingdom of God is not food and drink, but righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. The world is constantly looking for righteousness, peace, and joy in every place but the Kingdom of God. When these things are a part of our lives because of the Kingdom, they will remain with us. The joy, peace, and righteousness that the world gives us will vacillate depending on the circumstances, but the Kingdom of God will always continue. “Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us be thankful, and so worship God acceptably with reverence and awe, for our ‘God is consuming fire’” (Hebrews 12: 28, 29). The context explains that the things that can be shaken are the created things-the temporal things. But, the unshakable thing is the Kingdom-that we can be really thankful for. Since the Kingdom of God will last, our righteousness, peace, and joy will last.

Yes, let us be thankful for the little things in life-remembering that they are temporal. Look beyond those simple things to the unshakable Kingdom that we are receiving. There, we have righteousness, peace, joy, and the power of God which cannot be shaken. Thank you Jesus.

I look forward to your comments!