The Kingdom of God is the central theme of scripture. Jesus is the king. All things were created by Him, and bear the kingdom imprint. He gave his followers the keys of the kingdom (Matt. 16:19) and then he left us with the task of using them. Are we leaving them on the hook or are we engaging those doors of opportunity?
The kingdom of God is CENTRAL. It is the bullseye of Christian living. Anything we seek or dedicate our lives to that is not centered on the kingdom is eccentric——off-center. So, the “balanced Christian life” will always be eccentric to the world system and those who live captive to it.
What to do? Take the gifts God gave you and dedicate them to God’s eternal plan, described by Jesus in the Great Commission (Matthew 28:18-20–“Go and make disciples of all nations”) and the Lord’s Prayer (Matthew 6:10–“Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven”). Determine that it is a first-fruit offering, not the leftovers of your life. Then, after climbing the ladder of success through the decades, you will arrive at the top rung, knowing you placed the ladder on the right wall.
