I respect those who will continue to fight for our constitutional rights and godly political systems (Thank you!) but feel that my specific calling now is otherwise.
I must focus on what it means for us to be Jesus’ disciples in this journey, including how “the church” in America can become more the Church that He is building.
Most folks already have a nearly intractable opinion on the mask and vaccine and little good is accomplished in my contesting their views, but all, young and old, need the Abundant Life of the Kingdom of God for this Day.
Many will continue the political/societal battle, but few will identify the self-god mentality of many American Christians and our sense of entitlement to the freedoms and the economic opportunities that are now at risk.
We still covet them even though that is the very thing that has anesthetized us to the claims of Christ and produced our national downfall. And even though it is the very thing that blocks the narrow gate that opens into the abundance awaiting within.
IN CONCLUSION
I’m certainly not a super-saint, but I want to seek God’s Kingdom first and declare it to others with all that is within me – – and trust Him for my “tomorrow” as in Mt. 6:32-34. https://www.bible.com/bible/111/MAT.6.32-34.NIV
And I want my life to indicate that I am a Heb. 11:13-16 stranger and exile here, and a Mt. 24:42-51 faithful and wise servant who is working for his master and looking for His coming. https://www.bible.com/bible/111/MAT.24.42-51.NIV
And finally, I want to align myself with the words of Solomon in Eccles. 12:13-14, and invest myself in a way that the judgment he speaks of leads to a measure of eternal reward that far surpasses anything this world could offer for my few years here even if I were a billionaire. https://www.bible.com/bible/111/ECC.12.13-14.NIV
That speaks of ones’ measure of eternal reward, not of salvation, and is as important for the young as for the old.
Ken Stoltzfus
Kidron, Ohio USA
August 23, 2021
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