Kingdom Work
I was listening to this song while checking my emails & catching up on some blogs when I just stopped, replayed the song from the beginning, and sat in the room with my eyes closed.
I listened to each word and soaked it all in. I was moved to tears & one verse in particular stuck out to me:
We seek Your kingdom first
We hunger and we thirst.
Refuse to waste our lives
For You’re our joy and prize
To see the captive hearts released
The hurt, the sick, the poor at peace
We lay down our lives for heaven’s cause
We are Your church
We pray revive this earth
My heart aches to see captive hearts released – to see the hurt, the sick, the poor at peace. BUT do I lay my life down for heaven’s cause? I am His church and I am not alone. I am part of a greater body of believers and WE are the church. We are the voice in this dark world. We are the hope. We pray revive this earth!
Each one of us knows deeply how broken this world is whether death, destruction, divorce, abuse, or neglect has touched us personally, we have all seen it in the news and in the people around us. I don’t want to waste my life. I want to lay it down for heaven’s cause.
Now, this doesn’t mean we all need to quit our jobs and move oversees to do mission work. There are captive hearts all around you – your next door neighbor, your coworker, your UPS man, your yoga instructor, your kids kindergarten teacher… how in the little things are you laying down your life? How in the day-to-day can you make your life have purpose?
I am thinking on those things today, entrusting my life to the Holy Spirit and trusting that He will lead me and guide me. Trusting that the small talk with neighbors at the mailbox, letting people merge in front of me in traffic, and yelling thank you at the UPS man all can make a difference.
BE ENCOURAGED and be the church with me.
Amen sister! I think about this everyday:) And pray that our lives would matter for the deeper things! Thankful we are kindred spirits with that! love ya!! love from Nepal, Katie
there are so many ways that we can show god's love in our own neighborhood. we justned to get out of our comfort zone. i like the thought that we are the church. korea has a lot of christians but within the foreign community, it's not as common. at my first job we were persecuted and sought out to be mocked during the work day. i really struggled with it coming from a predominantly christian town beforehand. but when i went to seoul for a hillsong concert it was so uplifting to see so many believers gather together. it reminded me that even though we were alone at work, we were not alone on this walk of ours. i love the song!
This is so beautiful, Elizabeth! That song always gets me too! His Kingdom cause is all we should be seeking!
You speak so much truth, girl. So much truth. And I really loved how you emphasized that there is so much to be done in our own backyards. We can be the church wherever we are, and it doesn't necessarily have to be done in another country (unless, of course, that's where God's called us to be!). Can't wait to listen to that song–Rend Collective Experiment's music is sooo good.
Oh, and I really love how song lyrics speak to us. Music is my second language now. 🙂
Such an inspiring post! Love these lyrics. Thank you so much for the positive message today.
xo,
ashley
http://www.ashleyfrederickson.blogspot.com