It’s Not My Kingdom
It was a revelation to me that every family was not like my own. We believe things as children that may not necessarily be true. Some of these things are taught us, but many are assumptions we make based on personal observations. I have often told of my childish belief that it was wrong for women to go into barbershops. See, when I was a kid, there were only beauty shops and barbershops, and there was not much (if any) crossover. I had seen many women drop children off at the door and go on their way, but I had never seen a woman enter a barbershop. Hence, the belief. But I did see it one day while in the chair at Birdwell’s. Blew me right away.
Belief systems of this type are common place. It’s not that we intend to be wrong, but we often are. I’ve read it in my Bible, but it has really come home in personal experience that we fail or misunderstand despite our best efforts. Righteousness like filthy rags. So, we constantly have to re-learn. Self-examination is vital. A good understanding of God’s Word is critical in life since all truth is God’s truth. Fundamental truths are the same for everybody, and that’s a hard concept for many to grasp in a world committed to political-correctness and relativism. How many things we’ve been wrong about we will know someday.
It’s easy for preconceptions to cloud our understanding of the Kingdom of God and its advancement. In my younger days, I was surer of the means God approves. A part of this certainty (I have to admit) was due to inexperience. But, there’s more than one way to build a house, and there are surely many ways to build God’s Kingdom so long as we remember the Architect and follow His blueprints. The Kingdom does not belong to us. It belongs to God.
No human mind can conceive His plan. It is ours to obey. The beliefs we held as children must grow through life as we pursue God and his will.
It’s not been easy for me to let go of my cherished beliefs, but, in some cases, I’ve had to do it. I had to learn there were families other than my own, and that a world existed outside my experience. I could not paddle around in familiar waters my entire life. Learning, growth and change are life. The same things apply spiritually. We are never the total package. We must make progress. These ideas help us to understand that God’s Kingdom is greater than us. It is being built according to a divine plan in which we may have a part but never completely comprehend.
Sterl
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