URGENCY

Today I was blessed to be reminded of the URGENCY of the Kingdom of God. Based on Luke 16 (especially the second half), our pastor preached a challenging message about true righteousness. It is so easy to become like the Pharisees, living with a "check-list" kind of righteousness....but it is so wrong.

We don't like to admit it and we act like it isn't true on the surface, but it is easy...
- to lose social consciousness and become self-centered
- to strive after earthly comforts
- to include God in our earthly kingdom as a security blanket, rather than seeking the Kingdom of GOD first and foremost!
Again, we don't admit it...but we often don't look deep enough into our sinful humanity.

We need to see the picture of Christ, reaching out to the needy and loving without limit.
Christ, love become flesh.
We must repent of our self-centeredness and rely on the Lord to give us eyes to see and hands to serve.

So go, serve the Lord with great gusto and energy....
Be faithful to what God puts in your path!
The Kingdom of God is at hand!

PS - I haven't read John Piper's Don't Waste your Life, but I plan to...and some friends say it is along this topic in case you're interested...