Day 015

How can I describe the Kingdom of God? It is like a tiny mustard seed. Though this is one of the smallest seeds, it grows to become one of the largest plants, with long branches where birds can come and find shelter. Mark 4:30-33 (The New Living Translation)

The Power of a Consecrated Life

The Kingdom of God has broken in upon us, and nothing can ever be the same again!

Jesus inaugurated it on Resurrection Sunday and gave us, His followers, the task of living as Kingdom people. He also promised that He would finally consummate the Kingdom when He returns. But we would be mistaken if we thought that the Kingdom is established through grand gestures and very public large-scale protests. Quite the opposite is true. God’s Kingdom comes through the small ‘mustard seed’ actions of consecrated lives. Every day, ordinary decisions of obedience, faithfulness, compassion, grace, love and truth are the things from which God grows the beauty of His world around us through our witness and our worship. We plant seeds for the Kingdom when we walk in humble obedience and faithfulness and choose to serve the broken, feed the hungry, challenge unjust systems, speak out on behalf of those who cannot speak for themselves, and tell the truth – to ourselves, to others, to individuals, to our communities and our culture.

Sometimes we think the smallness of the things that we do will mean that they are insignificant. But we must never underestimate the power of a consecrated life. If we want to see Christ-like teachers, doctors or factory workers released in our churches and communities then surely, we must seek to be Christ-like, consecrated pastors, elders, deacons and leaders? How can a Christian project working with the homeless or excluded young people really bring God’s Kingdom without consecration? And how can they be consecrated if they do not also see their local church and its leaders living in consecration?

Consecration flows from a deep conviction of the TRUTH of who God is and what He does when we live out of the Kingdom being with us here and now and the freedom and joy that it brings. Consecration, together with worship, ministry, fellowship and discipleship is a declaration of defiant trust in the life-giving power of God’s holiness and shalom. We do not just plant a seed of kindness, we plant the potential for a revolution in thinking, life and practise when we live consecrated lives. Because with the seed of our acts of obedience, we also plant the love and grace of God. He grows that act of kindness and that word of truth into something that will utterly transform the situation into which it has been planted. And the soil of such change begins in each of us.

So, keep planting!

For further thought –

Are there ways in which you have thought that your personal consecration is inconsequential when it comes to making a lasting difference in the lives of others? Take some time to ask God to help you to see the eternal significance of your obedience and the posture of your own soul.