"Thy Kingdom Come"

   A phrase from the reading this morning keeps running through my mind.

    "God's kingdom is..."(Matthew 13:44)


   "Or, God's kingdom is..."(Matthew 13:45)


   "Or, God's kingdom is..."(Matthew 13:47)


   Then instead of concentrating on these short parables that Jesus talks about here, my mind leaps to another rendering of these same words. In the middle of the "Lord's Prayer" in Matthew 6:10, I read:

   "Thy kingdom come..."

   I have thought before of my sometimes inability to participate in a worship service when this prayer is recited. I often find that, as the words are spoken aloud, my heart is just not ready to take them seriously, and to pray them without sincerity seems wrong on my part. There is just so much meaning in those three words, that I cannot wrap my mind around them in the time before I have to go on to the rest of the prayer. So, I remain silent.

   Why do I do this? In retrospect, I am afraid of offending God. When I think of these words I find a couple of different ideas popping into my brain. On the one hand I may want my kingdom to come and not His. I may like my life and don't want it upset. On another, I may see any present difficulties and look for a way out, even if it is the future. Either way is not bowing my knee to God and saying that I know His way is best for me, whatever it looks like.

   God has placed me where I am today, with all of the attendant joys or trials. Someday I will realize the "rightness" of what is going on, but today is where I am to look for His kingdom, not someday. It is here and it is now. It is not my ideal fantasy life nor is it an escape from it.

   "Thy kingdom come..."

   I want to pray those words reverently and sincerely. God, help me do it.