March 8
The older I get, the more I think about the coming kingdom.
Maybe it’s because my sin is uglier. Maybe it’s because my suffering stings. Maybe it’s because I’m more in love with Jesus and the thought of endless days with him captivates me.
I think about Christ’s kingdom, yes.
But do I pray for it to come? Do I obey Jesus when he says, “Pray then like this… Your kingdom come…”?
Last Thursday’s post was about my spring fever and the longing we all feel for Jesus’s return. Winter makes us ache for spring the way this world makes us ache for a new heaven and new earth in which righteousness dwells (2 Pt. 3:13).
But when was the last time we pleaded: “Your kingdom come”?
The natural outflow of our longing should be intense prayer. Christopher Ash writes:
“Are our Christian lives characterized by longing, waiting, and prayer for his final comfort and, therefore, his final judgements? Does the prayer, “Your kingdom come” trip off our tongues unthinkingly, or is it wrung out of us by the pressure of otherwise unbearable suffering?”[1]
Do you pray, “Your kingdom come”?
And if you do, why?
More on that next week.
[1] Christopher Ash, Bible Delight, (Christian Focus Publications: Scotland, GB, 2008), 113
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