Kingdom: King

“’Get out of here, Satan,’ Jesus told him. ‘For the Scriptures say “You must worship the Lord your God; Serve only him.”’” Matthew 4:10
 Let’s stick with Jesus’ temptation in the desert for some more thoughts. Satan tries to get Jesus to bow down and worship him in order to gain the world. But Jesus rebukes him, saying that we must worship and serve only the Lord.
We are part of the Kingdom of God. This is not an empire. This is not a democracy. This is not majority rules. This is a Kingdom, and that means we have a King. God’s Word is final. We worship only God. We serve Him alone.
Society today tells us that whatever works for you is ok. Whatever has popular support is acceptable. Biblical morality is ignored in favour of public opinion. Celebrities and sports stars are put up on pedestals for us to bow down before them. TV talent shows promise fame to anyone in exchange for one short audition. Twitter encourages even the least of us to go seeking our own following, to build our own platform. Everywhere we look people are serving their selves and worshipping trivial things.
We need to stand firm. God’s principles never change. His standards are the same yesterday, today and tomorrow. Just because society decides something is ok doesn’t make it ok. This is not a democracy, this is a Kingdom, and our King’s word is final. It may not get us popular support but we are not seeking public approval – we already have the love of the One whose opinion matters! He is the only one worthy of our worship. It is Him alone we should be serving.
To Ponder

• What issues do we need to take a stand on that goes against public opinion?
• How can we make sure we are following God’s ways rather than going with the crowd?
• What does it mean for us to live as part of a Kingdom rather than an empire?

 Core Verse
“Then Samuel said to all the people of Israel, “If you are really serious about wanting to return to the Lord, get rid of your foreign gods and your images of Ashtoreth. Determine to obey only the Lord; then he will rescue you from the Philistines.”” 1 Samuel 7:3