This morning I happened to read one of my favorite Scriptures in the Bible:
"For David, after he had served the purpose of God in his own generation, fell asleep and was laid with his fathers and saw corruption” (
Acts 13:36).
This verse challenges everything I do with my life.
When it all comes down to it, am I building a
career or the Kingdom? Am I serving God’s purpose or my own? What about you?
Ministry is an interesting challenge. It goes against the current of our culture, which is all about building a career and climbing the corporate ladder.
There’s nothing wrong with building a career, of course. You can still build a career
and build the kingdom. It’s all about a mindset shift which works its way into how you work.
Whether you’re an employee, an entrepreneur or a full-time pastor, we all have the temptation of building something other than the kingdom. But the Kingdom of God is why we’re here and we can’t lose sight of that.
How to Build the Kingdom
Are your eyes on eternity or the here and now? Questions like this never go away. If you’re in high school, you’re dreaming about the future. You’re excited for the possibility of what could happen next. When you’re in college, you’re preparing. Whether you know what you’re going to do or not, you’re preparing for the future. When you get your first job you wonder if you missed something. Is this all there is?
But when I start to get off track—stressing, striving and worrying, I ask myself, “How can I build the Kingdom of God today?
And you know what? That gives me all sorts of ideas for what I could do. People I can disciple. Resources I can develop. Systems I can set into motion. Building a
career feels narrow and stressful. Building the Kingdom is expansive and freeing.
What does it mean to build the Kingdom?
What Is the Will of God?
Simply put, it’s doing the will of God. What is the will of God? It’s a question so many people worry about. What is the
will of God for my life? What if I miss it? What if I can’t figure it out?
I’m more of the opinion that the will of God is laid out in Scripture, giving us infinite freedom in how we live that out. There’s no one way. You have been blessed with creativity, talents and gifts to go and do the will of God. Why wait for a sign from Heaven when you’ve been given freedom to go make disciples, heal the sick, start businesses, preach the Gospel, lead, start something new.
I’m convinced that more of us need to get proactive with our lives. We stall. We wait to be picked. We wait for something to happen rather than being the one who makes things happen. Time is a precious resource. What you waste cannot be returned.
Every day I have a choice—a choice to serve myself or to give myself to serve others. To seek first the Kingdom of God or to seek first what makes me look good.
Today…I’m choosing to ask this question: “How can I build the Kingdom of God today?”
Are you in?
What does “building the kingdom” look like for you? How do you keep your days focused on this priority?
