For the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking but of righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. – Romans 14:17
Earlier this year, the United Kingdom coronated a new king, Charles III, who ascended the throne after the death of his mother, Queen Elizabeth II, their longest-reigning monarch who had served her people for over 70 years. Many changes occurred to that once-dominant empire during her leadership, most of which she neither controlled nor could stop. Charles III, already much older, will not have so long a reign, but the realm will continue to undergo changes.
There is a Kingdom over which a Monarch rules that is unchangeable. Our Sovereign, Jesus, is “the King of the ages, immortal, invisible, the only God” (1 Timothy 1:17). As subjects of earthly kings serve in their kingdoms, you are set apart for service as a member of Christ’s Kingdom. “Only fear the Lord and serve him faithfully with all your heart. For consider what great things he has done for you” (1 Samuel 12:24).
Serving the Lord may mean sacrifice or persecution by those who mock the Lord. However, according to today’s verse, serving your King Jesus brings righteousness, peace, and joy. As hymn-writer Oswald Smith penned, “There is joy in serving Jesus, joy that triumphs over pain; fills my heart with heaven’s music, till I join the glad refrain.”
There is a role in service that the King has set forth for you—regardless of whether it is mundane or grand, it is yours to do. Seek to know and to do the Lord’s bidding for the benefit of His Kingdom today. Pray for the men and women who wear the nation’s military uniforms to do their service “as unto the Lord” so that they might also rest in joy, righteousness, and peace.
Today’s Verse: Romans 14:17
For the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking but of righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.
All Scripture quotations and audio are from the ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Recommended for further reading: Philippians 2:3-8
3 Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. 4 Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others. 5 Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, 6 who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, 7 but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. 8 And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.
All Scripture quotations and audio are from the ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
