Thank You, Lord Jesus, that You have birthed us in a particular context, by design. Each of us is primarily responsible for our own people. Father, please forgive us, that so many of us have abandoned our responsibility to our own people but have made choices to live in another, for our vocational profits. In Jesus’ name, we pray. Amen.”
Acts 2:33 Therefore being exalted to the right hand of God, and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, He poured out this which you now see and hear.
Matthew 6:10 Your kingdom come. Your will be done On earth as it is in heaven. Though we pray this prayer, it seems strange that our lives are not lived for His kingdom’s purposes.
The Lord has birthed us in specific contexts, not unintentionally, but by design, because the Lord is building His kingdom through us. Therefore, each of us will be held accountable before God, for the prevailing circumstances in our cultures.
Acts 17:26-31 And He has made from one blood every nation of men to dwell on all the face of the earth, and has determined their preappointed times and the boundaries of their dwellings, (27) so that they should seek the Lord, in the hope that they might grope for Him and find Him, though He is not far from each one of us; (28) for in Him we live and move and have our being, as also some of your own poets have said, ‘For we are also His offspring.’ (29) Therefore, since we are the offspring of God, we ought not to think that the Divine Nature is like gold or silver or stone, something shaped by art and man’s devising. (30) Truly, these times of ignorance God overlooked, but now commands all men everywhere to repent, (31) because *He has appointed a day on which He will judge the world in righteousness by the Man whom He has ordained. He has given assurance of this to all by raising Him from the dead.”
Our vocations and our personal needs have taken precedence over His kingdom and we have made choices accordingly. Though the following passage is very familiar to us, yet, this is only theory for us.
Matthew 6:31-33 “Therefore do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ (32) For after all these things the Gentiles seek. For your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. (33) But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.
As leaders in His church, we should have set the example in this matter and we should have raised godly offspring to be kingdom leaders in our own contexts.
Malachi 2:15 But did He not make them one, Having a remnant of the Spirit? And why one? He seeks godly offspring. “Therefore take heed to your spirit, And let none deal treacherously with the wife of his youth.
Instead of challenging and motivating our children to make choices by giving precedence to God’s kingdom over vocation, we have facilitated our children to make vocation-based choices (not kingdom based) and then we, unashamedly, say that it was our children, who made their life choices.
Friends, please keep in mind that when we stand before the Lord on judgement day, God will judge the motives of our hearts. I Corinthians 4:5 Therefore judge nothing before the time, until the Lord comes, who will both bring to light the hidden things of darkness and reveal the counsels of the hearts. Then each one’s praise will come from God.
Going back to the statement of Dr John Stott, which I quoted a couple of days ago, if our cultures and contexts are lost to the kingdom of darkness, then let us be sure as to who is responsible.
The issue is also about those of us who remain in our contexts but choose to remain cloistered from the harsh realities of our circumstances. We will all be held accountable before God for our failure to bring the kingdom rule of God into our contexts.
We are to raise our generations for the purpose of God’s kingdom. Psalms 78:6-7 That the generation to come might know them, The children who would be born, That they may arise and declare them to their children, (7) That they may set their hope in God, And not forget the works of God, But keep His commandments;_
How are we to raise our generations for the purpose of building God’s kingdom? Praise the Lord, the Lord has given us a road map.
Genesis 1:28 Then God blessed them, and God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it; have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over every living thing that moves on the earth.”
Be fruitful – Being a blessing to society. A tree does not consume its own fruit but others do.
Multiply – Increase the number of fruit bearers or make disciples of Jesus
Fill the earth – Occupy. Every occupation is a kingdom opportunity, where we live and work for the glory of God. There is no sacred-secular divide.
Subdue it – Harness. Conquer our specific domains by being God’s assigned rulers in our places of occupation.
Have dominion – Evict the powers of darkness that are currently occupying and ruling different domains and usher in the kingdom rule of God.
If we would use this God-given road map to raise our children, we would be His good and faithful servants.