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Heaven on Earth
The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field.
When a man found it, he hid it again, and then in his joy went and sold all he had and
bought that field. Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant looking for fine
pearls. When he found one of great value, he went away and sold everything he had and
bought it (Matthew 13:44-46).
“Repent, for the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand!”
Strong words that echo throughout the pages of the Gospels. Imagine those words spoken by
Christ to a crowd of which you are a part. As you hear those words, it is hard but to feel
a sense of urgency--a sense of need to get one’s life in order, as it were.
But the sense of urgency fades, and the need to commit to serve God often gives birth to a
slew of recommitments, like so many broken New Year’s resolutions. And the Kingdom of
heaven blurs, becoming far from being “at hand” in the midst of our daily grind.
So when is that great someday? That great and distant day when we shall wake up to the
Kingdom of Heaven? These may be the questions that come to mind when we consider
Jesus’ words. For it would seem that since Jesus spoke those words nearly 2000 years
ago, that surely the Kingdom of Heaven would be here by now--wouldn’t it? So it would
seem. And it may seem to us at times that we shall never see it come, but God is not a man
that He should lie--He said the Kingdom of Heaven was at hand, and so it was--and still
is.
Consider the words, “at hand.” When we think of something as at hand, we are not
speaking so much of a place in time as we are a physical place. If we have a pencil at
hand, we have a pencil near and in our reach. When Jesus came to us, He placed the Kingdom
of Heaven in our reach within the work and purpose of His being here. The Kingdom of
Heaven was not something near as in the future, but near as in “Stretch out thy
hand.” As a man seemed to grasp what Jesus was teaching, Jesus told him, "You
are not far from the kingdom of God" (Mark 12:34).
As children of God, we belong to the Kingdom of Heaven. We are part of His glorious and
eternal Kingdom. We need not wait to enjoy the riches of our relationship with God. He is
near--even within our reach, thanks to the work of our Lord Jesus. When we consider the
words of Jesus, "Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and
rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures
in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and
steal” (Mt.6:19-20), we do not need to consider it a putting away of things that we
will not be able to hold or enjoy until we are in Heaven. But we lay up treasures in
Heaven and are able to reap an abundance of blessings within those treasures as we dwell
in the Kingdom of Heaven while on earth--simply by doing the will of the Father.
“Thy Kingdom Come...”
The Kingdom of Heaven is at hand--it is near and within our reach. “Thy Kingdom
Come” should be our daily prayer. As we live to seek God and seek to live godly
lives, we find that we shall draw near to God and He to us. We find that we have an
abundance of life through the sacrifice of what we may want out of life. And we find that
through the daily letting go of the things of this earth, that the Kingdom of Heaven is
truly at Hand--and always within our reach.
http://www.daybyday.org
I started Day by Day in 1998 in response to what I believe was God's
leading. It is my primary devotional site. Reflections was added later,
simply as a site to place more of my work.
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