Week 9—Friday John 1:12-13
John 1:12-13
“BORN TO THE KINGDOM”
We are considering the fact that the Christian faith and the soul and body are not alien but affinities. Jesus said, “The earth bringeth forth fruit of herself” (Mark 4:28, KJV)—the seed and the earth are affinities, made for each other. So the seed of the Kingdom and the soil of my life are fitted for each other. Another passage speaks of those “born of the kingdom” (Matt. 8:12, NEB). We are born to live in the Kingdom as a child is born to live in this world of ours. When a child is about to be born, we can imagine its fear of being born into a world of this kind—away from the securities of the womb. But everything is awaiting the baby’s propensities. If the stomach needs food, it is there; if the brain needs knowledge, it is there for the taking; if the heart needs fellowship, it is awaiting it in the family circle; if the soul needs God, God has been in the whole process. Everything the baby needs is provided for before it arrives. So when we are “born to the Kingdom,” everything we need to live by is already provided in that Kingdom. “My God shall supply every need of yours according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus” (Phil. 4:19).
Jesus said, “My food is to do the will of him who sent me, and to accomplish his work” (John 4:34). Is God’s will our food? And is our will, against God’s will, our poison? Yes, for our will set against God’s will poisons our usefulness, our happiness, ourselves. But when we do God’s will, we are fed, we are at our best, we have a sense of well-being, and we are alive all over.
A young minister in Japan said in the Overflowing Heart at one of our Ashrams, “I didn’t want to be a holy man—I’ve wanted to be human. But I’ve had a brooding sense of emptiness. I didn’t want to receive the Holy Spirit, for I was afraid of it—afraid it would make me queer. But last night I surrendered myself to Jesus, and this morning I awoke without my usual sense of gloominess. I felt strange. Now I’ve been crucified with Christ, and now I share [his] resurrection. I’m alive—and human.”
O Jesus, blessed redeemer. You make us more human than ever when we are yours. We walk the earth as though we possess it—and we do! We belong to you, and everything that belongs to you, including the earth, belongs to us. Glory be! Amen!
AFFIRMATION FOR THE DAY: God’s will is food, my will against God’s will is my poison—remember that, O my soul.