October 29

“God wants from us the service of heirs, not of servants.  A servant works for wages, an heir from love.  A servant works to gain something; an heir works because all has been given to him.”  Hannah Whitall Smith, God is Enough, 10/10

I don’t think we see ourselves as heirs because we don’t live this way.  We don’t live as though the kingdom of heaven is already ours.  If we did, I think we’d act totally different.  We’d see all that we did as for this end.  We’d evaluate our activities in light of this.  We wouldn’t compartmentalize our lives into “religious” and “secular”.  Servants have time off from their duties, but heirs do not.  If they are to inherit the family business they will make sure it doesn’t go down the tube before they receive it!  If they have to put in extra hours on certain tasks they will.  They also take responsibility for their duties while servants merely do what they’re told.  In a way you could say that every Christian is a co-op member.  We need to see every professing Christian as part owner of this future kingdom.  This means we need to be working together rather than dividing ourselves up into different categories (commonly known as denominations!).  Rather than emphasize our differences in theology or mode of worship, we need to be emphasizing our love of God and commitment to bringing about His kingdom.

“And because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, ‘Abba!  Father!’   So through God you are no longer a slave but a son, and if a son then an heir.”  Galatians 4: 6, 7