Bring God’s Kingdom to Our Little Corner of the World

  "Make your lives worthy of the God who calls you to His Kingship and glory." 1 Thessalonians 2:12

I don't think we can ever be worthy of God, the King of the universe, the creator of everything visible and invisible. How could we ever make ourselves worthy as Saint Paul exhorts us to do? In the 1st chapter of his letter to the people of Thessalonica, he writes them, "We know that God loves you, dear brothers and sisters, and that He CHOSE you to be His own people."

Here in the Philippines, we never had a monarchy, a kingdom. We never had a King, so it's hard to imagine belonging to a Kingdom. But nevertheless, every Christian is part of a Kingdom, God's kingdom. We too, like the people of Thessalonica, were chosen, handpicked by God to be part of His own special people. 

It's hard to see God's Kingdom here on earth, especially when babies in the wombs are being killed so the fetus, placenta, and other membranes can be used in the development of certain vaccines and stem cell research. How about when Muslim families stone a daughter for converting to Christianity or a son for being gay? Today there are so many horrors like children being abused by their own fathers, or people being beheaded and hung upside down, etc. 

But God's Kingdom manages to break through- in people who serve, people who love, people who sacrifice their lives for others. After all, our God is a servant King, the King who saves. We see glimpses of God's kingdom in those who go to the prison regularly to bring not only real bread but the bread from heaven. We see it in any priest or lay person who goes out to mingle with the poor and give them dignity. We see it in young people visiting the Aetas in far off Pampanga to bring food and fix their ramshackle homes. We see God's Kingdom in those who tutor and feed street children, give them books and school supplies. We see the Kingdom shining in Africa's little Christian communities, in the underground churches in China, in the persecuted churches in the middle East. 

Lord, show us Your kingdom is all around us, and show us how we ourselves can bring Your Kingdom to our little corner of the world.