WEEK 2
DAY 9- ARE WE KINGDOM-MINDED?
Scripture- Matthew 13
Dallas Willard said, “You can’t think correctly about life or the church without first thinking correctly about the Kingdom.” Being kingdom-minded is paramount and priority. For Jesus, the Kingdom was the priority. The Kingdom was part of His first sermon (Mark 1:14-15), what He preached regularly (Luke 8:1), what He talked about for the last 40 days He walked this earth (Acts 1:3), and what He taught His disciples to pray (Matt. 6:9-10), proclaim (Matt. 10:7) and pursue (Matt. 6:33).
Maybe we have lost the priority of the Kingdom somewhere in the midst of our Western ideas of a kingdom, our democratic perspective on governance, our misunderstanding of the relationship be- tween the Church and the Kingdom, or our theological constructs.
In Matthew 13, Jesus tells seven parables all related to the Kingdom. In the midst of those parables, Jesus says that the “secrets” of the Kingdom have been given to those who belong to the Kingdom. Being Kingdom-minded means we are aware of the secrets and pursue a deeper understanding of those secrets and how to live them out as Kingdom people.
The question is, “Are we Kingdom-minded?” The answer is found in how we live our lives. Characteristics of a Kingdom lifestyle are discovered throughout the “secrets” of Matthew 13. Kingdom-minded people bear fruit, live distinctively, live incarnationally, see transformation regularly, act counter-culturally, pursue continually, and live sacrificially.
REFLECTION PRAYER
To our King,
We are grateful to have experienced the great joy of being redeemed out of the kingdom of darkness and made citizens of Your Kingdom. We are grateful to be included among those to whom the knowledge of the secrets of the Kingdom has been given.
We ask, Lord, that You would enable us to steward Kingdom secrets well,
to seek first, to treasure dearly, and understand fully Your Kingdom. As ambassadors of Your Kingdom in this world, we ask for eyes to see open doors and boldness to declare the gospel of the Kingdom to all nations. Amen.
By Todd Sovine