SIXTH IN A SERIES ON THE GOSPEL JESUS PROCLAIMED
“And he called the twelve together and gave them power and authority… and sent them out to proclaim the kingdom of God…” (Luke 9:1-2, ESV)
Arnold Palmer, the king of golf, is dead.
Thousands upon thousands mourned his death.
Jesus, a poor carpenter of Nazareth, who many of us follow, died in the First Century.
Few mourned his death.
Arnold Palmer died a hero.
Jesus died in disgrace, almost unnoticed. And was buried in a cave.
Arnold Palmer and Jesus of Nazareth were both kings. Both had immense influence.
Arnold won many victories.
Jesus won but one. He defeated death.
Lew Wallace, a Civil War General and seeking skeptic, was shaken by the arguments of a fellow officer, an agnostic. Motivated to find out if the story of Jesus of Nazareth was true and because the colonel “made me feel ashamed of my ignorance,” Wallace, a trained lawyer, decided to investigate.
Jesus called the 12 key men on his team together and directed them to “proclaim the kingdom of God.”His investigation led to Wallace becoming a follower of Jesus. He then wrote the novel acclaimed “the most influential Christian book of the 19th century,” Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ.
Jesus, unlike Arnold, gave his followers a number of commands before his death. In the text above, Jesus called the 12 key men on his team together and directed them to “proclaim the kingdom of God.”
What was that kingdom all about? In a sentence, Paul wrote, “The kingdom of God is …righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit” (Romans 14:17).
Jesus also instructed his followers to “…seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and… not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble” (Matthew 6: 33-34).
Renowned author and teacher of teachers, Dallas Willard wrote, “Seeking the kingdom of God with all our heart is our top priority…. When you seek something, you look for it everywhere. If you are seeking your car keys, you look everywhere. Seeking the kingdom is like that. To seek for the kingdom of God is to look for it to be present…and then identify yourself with the action.”
—
Jim Hiskey
September 19, 2017
Copyright 2017 Links Players International
The Links Daily Devotional appears Monday-Friday at www.linksplayers.com.
Other devotions in this series:
1 A Large Mistake
2 The Key Fundamental
3 After the Humiliation: Good News
4 The Garland
5 Much Ado About Much
7 The Kingdom Message
8 Responding to the Good News
9 Resting in Jesus