Kingdom of the Now and Not Yet, Part IV

The fourth point about living in the kingdom of the now and the not yet is that it gives our lives meaning.

Why do we do what we do? Why bother to get up on Sunday and go to church? Why work on a Sunday school lesson, preparing to teach? Why love our neighbor when it would be much easier to ignore him or to even hate him? Why resist the urge to get even? Why work so hard to forgive?

If God lives with us now, if we are living in the kingdom today, then we have faith that we are loved by God and that God's grace surrounds us. That requires our commitment to what we are called to do -- it is the only response to kingdom living. Living the kingdom gives purpose to what we do.

Living for the kingdom that is not yet brings us hope, and also gives us purpose.

Purpose comes from God -- in the now and in the future.