For those who go the polls this month, placing the mark in the right spot may have been a frustrating experience. Some were unsure of party policies. Some did not know their candidate very well. Some complained that the ballots should include”none of the above” because the choices could be more desirable.
Ever wonder what it would be like if the political leaders cast the ballots? Suppose they decided no one could vote, Only a few would qualify to live in Canada, and all who did had to serve each other’s best interest?
Would the people then become the politicians, giving speeches and promises hoping to serve where they wanted? Suppose one party liked you and the other didn’t, creating much conflict for you? How would Canadians then respond to their leadership?
Did you know that it is something like that in the kingdom of God? His Dominion has no elections, no polling stations, no political campaigns. The majority does not rule. God rules. He alone calls the shots. Some may think the kingdom of God sounds like a dictatorship. However, once examined, even the best of human government pales beside His system. Here are some highlights:
1. There is only one leader or Lord, to whom every person gives allegiance and utter devotion, Jesus Christ. He rules in love, truth and perfect justice.
2. This Leader fully represents the people (He became one of us) yet fully represents absolute authority because He is fully God.
3. He rules sovereignly. Even though He invites His citizens to make their wishes known through prayer, none pull His strings. He grants privileges not rights. Nothing can be demanded, or taken by force, lobbying, or majority vote, yet all the blessings are free. No one goes without. All needs are met, fully and perfectly.
4. All citizens in the kingdom are commanded to live in harmony with each other in spite of the diversity of their views, abilities, personalities or circumstances. Since this is humanly impossible, the Lord gives them His own quality of life (eternal life) and with it, all of His transmutable characteristics, such as love, joy, peace, patience, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness and self-control. Those who live according to His divine life within are blessed with peace and joy.
5. No one is forced to exercise their God-given abilities, but will face the natural consequences if they don’t. (Similar to running full tilt into a brick wall. He won’t stop you, but if you insist, you will hurt yourself!).
6. Those who disobey are never condemned because Jesus Christ Himself paid the full penalty of all offenses that have or will ever be committed. However, offenders are given attention with a view to correct them, This is because the Lord knows right living benefits His people.
7. This kingdom begins in the hearts of men and is entered by an act of faith, on earth. It is never exited. That is, it is an eternal kingdom. Its residents live here for awhile as ambassadors, then go to their eternal and real place of citizenship to live forever.
8. Not everyone who says”Lord, Lord” will enter this kingdom. Only those who do the will of God can be citizens. (How to do it is clearly stated in John’s gospel, chapter 6, verse 29).
9. The people, once in this kingdom, have no vote because they have placed their faith in the wisdom of the One who governs them. Their only vote is just a simple decision whether or not they will accept His invitation to enter. “Yes” or “No” to the Lordship of Jesus Christ always decides all the issues. In other words, you can’t vote this theocracy in, but you can vote yourself into this theocracy.
The Leader of this state welcomes all who come to Him in faith. Quite a difference from current politics, is it not?
Showing posts with label voting. Show all posts
Showing posts with label voting. Show all posts
Monday, July 7, 2014
Monday, October 28, 2013
Decision by majority rule? ................................ Parables 035
The kindergarten children were excited. They had a new class mate, a furry hamster. As they gathered around the little ball of fluff, one of the children asked, “Is it a boy or a girl?”
The teacher, recognizing a teaching opportunity, asked them, “What do you think?”
One child said, “It must be a boy, because it has whiskers.”
Another responded, “No, it’s a girl, because it has long hair.”
For a few minutes the children tossed various reasons back and forth for their opinion of the sex of the hamster. Finally, one frustrated little fellow said, “I know, let’s vote on it.”
“Kids,” we laugh. Yet how often do you and I make decisions based on similar reasoning? Not everything can be decided by popular vote. In this instance there was a right and a wrong answer. The hamster was either male or female, and voting would not change the fact of the matter. In fact, to make a decision based on the opinions expressed by voting, could not only be a mistake, it could be evil.
In case anyone should think that is just my opinion, I didn’t say it first. Jesus Christ did. He said, “You are they which justify yourselves before men; but God knows your hearts — for that which is highly esteemed among men is abomination in the sight of God.” (Luke 16:15)
Jesus was speaking to a group of Pharisees, religious leaders who went through the motions of their religion. He perceived that in their hearts they were doing it to impress people (since people are sometimes impressed by outward form). The popular vote determined how they acted, rather than an understanding of what is right and what is wrong. God was not impressed.
In contrast, Jesus did things like eating and drinking with prostitutes, tax collectors, and the rejects of His society. He did not win the vote of the religious leaders by this, and other things that He said and did. Eventually everyone turned against Him, and He was crucified, but several times in His life a voice boomed from heaven and said, “This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.” He was highly esteemed by God for doing things that men did not consider of value.
Children voting on the gender of a hamster is funny. Children following the “vote” of their peers to do drugs is not. Neither are a lot of other decisions that are based on an “everybody does it” philosophy. The trend away from black and white into a “follow the crowd” philosophy has led many an undiscerning person into tragedy and despair.
God’s way is seldom a matter of “majority rules.” Jesus said, “Wide is the way that leads to destruction but narrow is the gate that leads to life . . . and few there be that find it.” That “few” that find it have learned not to pay any attention to “election returns” but to listen to the One who brought them through the “gate.”
The teacher, recognizing a teaching opportunity, asked them, “What do you think?”
One child said, “It must be a boy, because it has whiskers.”
Another responded, “No, it’s a girl, because it has long hair.”
For a few minutes the children tossed various reasons back and forth for their opinion of the sex of the hamster. Finally, one frustrated little fellow said, “I know, let’s vote on it.”
“Kids,” we laugh. Yet how often do you and I make decisions based on similar reasoning? Not everything can be decided by popular vote. In this instance there was a right and a wrong answer. The hamster was either male or female, and voting would not change the fact of the matter. In fact, to make a decision based on the opinions expressed by voting, could not only be a mistake, it could be evil.
In case anyone should think that is just my opinion, I didn’t say it first. Jesus Christ did. He said, “You are they which justify yourselves before men; but God knows your hearts — for that which is highly esteemed among men is abomination in the sight of God.” (Luke 16:15)
Jesus was speaking to a group of Pharisees, religious leaders who went through the motions of their religion. He perceived that in their hearts they were doing it to impress people (since people are sometimes impressed by outward form). The popular vote determined how they acted, rather than an understanding of what is right and what is wrong. God was not impressed.
In contrast, Jesus did things like eating and drinking with prostitutes, tax collectors, and the rejects of His society. He did not win the vote of the religious leaders by this, and other things that He said and did. Eventually everyone turned against Him, and He was crucified, but several times in His life a voice boomed from heaven and said, “This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.” He was highly esteemed by God for doing things that men did not consider of value.
Children voting on the gender of a hamster is funny. Children following the “vote” of their peers to do drugs is not. Neither are a lot of other decisions that are based on an “everybody does it” philosophy. The trend away from black and white into a “follow the crowd” philosophy has led many an undiscerning person into tragedy and despair.
God’s way is seldom a matter of “majority rules.” Jesus said, “Wide is the way that leads to destruction but narrow is the gate that leads to life . . . and few there be that find it.” That “few” that find it have learned not to pay any attention to “election returns” but to listen to the One who brought them through the “gate.”
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