A Kingdom in Which to Place Our Trust

It's an election year, and it hasn't been a dull one. This drama reads like General Hospital circa 1981. Oddly enough, many of the players and producers are of the age they may have dashed home from school each day, captivated by the storyline. Coincidence? I think not. Anyhoo, I was thinking about all of the chaos and drama that politics seems to create and disseminate these days. There are conspiracies and conspiracy theorists. There are those who claim to be on the right side of truth, and those who are. There are the woke, the ultra-woke, the non-woke, and everything in between. And present in the minds of, I believe, the majority is a desire for honesty, integrity, transparency, and security. I don't know anyone who has complete confidence in our government right now. I don't know anyone who feels "perfectly safe." I, personally, wouldn't trust governing bodies --elected or otherwise --with our seventeen-year-old car, much less the lives of my family. 

Johnny Harris, in his video work, The "Deep State" Explained soliloquizes, And we all kind of wonder, 'What if we actually need... all these dark windows and top-secret Power Point decks where they design how they're gonna spy on us? What if our safety relies on what happens inside of all these buildings?' So, we keep funding them, but in doing so, we must at least acknowledge what we're doing here. We are trading a portion of our freedom in exchange for a sense of security. ...Secrets keep us safe, but secrets also degrade this delicate thing we have called 'democracy and accountability'... 

In a clip included in Harris' video, past U.S. Senator Frank Church warns, ...means are as important as ends; crisis makes it tempting to ignore the wise restraints that make men free. 

Kinda scary, huh? Well, here's where my thoughts led. Generally speaking, human beings want to be free. We want to be safe. We want to live our lives to the best of our ability, make a few good friends along the way, leave something for those who will follow, and pass on peacefully. Growing up, I thought America's system of government provided the framework for all of us to do just that. I still think that. However, the framework is based on the wisdom, skill, and character of all the players --those in leadership and those being led. That, in and of itself makes it a flawed system, even if its design is without exception. But there is a Leadership, a Power, a System of Governance, a Security which exists, not only providing structure and safety but lavishing on its citizens a freedom which is perfect. Hogwash! you say? Nope. It's real, and it exists in the Kingdom of God.

The Kingdom of God begins with its King setting its citizens free. Laying down His very own life to do so; selfless sacrifice by a truly selfless Public Servant. All who will abide with the King will be made free. The King promises provision and safety within His Kingdom --no lengthy applications, no espionage at taxpayer expense, no covert surveillance. The laws of the Kingdom are simple: Love the King with all you've got and all you are, and love your neighbors. A single government program supports us in our race to live in such a way: the work of the Holy Spirit, The Paraclete, who transforms us and brings our initial deliverance to completion! As we live and work among others, the glory of our King and all He can do is made evident to those who do not dwell in our land; many long to be part of this Kingdom and consequently surrender, pledging fealty to their new King. The Kingdom grows and grows, transforming every square inch of ground it touches by assimilation or by declaration of war; but it cannot be stopped. It is eternal. It is mightier than any other though its origins are insignificant. Though it is dependent solely on the work of its King, it mandates the training and obedient participation of its people that all may experience the blessedness of serving their King and fully living out the life granted them as citizens of the Kingdom of God. 

In his letter to fellow believers, Peter the Apostle says, Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord, as His divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him who called us by glory and virtue, by which have been given to us exceedingly great and precious promises, that through these you may be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust. There is no withholding or exploitation here. There is no trading privacy or accountability for the sake of security. In Christ's kingdom, The Kingdom of God, we have all things that pertain to life and our highest objective, godliness. It is a kingdom in which the Ruling Power gives, not takes. It is a kingdom in which only the eternal good of His people brings glory to the King, and the eternal glory of the King is our highest good. It is a kingdom in which we can place our trust!