Wherefore, if I come, I will remember his deeds which he
doeth, prating against us with malicious words: and not content therewith,
neither doth he himself receive the brethren, and forbiddeth them that would,
and casteth them out of the church. Beloved, follow not that which is evil, but
that which is good. He that doeth good is of God: but he that doeth evil hath
not seen God.
Men are, by nature, kingdom makers. In the modern world,
every man works to grow and develop his own kingdom. For some it is a
technological kingdom, fully equipped with a large flat screen tv, the latest
in tablet and smartphone technology, a state-of-the-art gaming system, and a
computer that could land a space shuttle. For others it is a kingdom of things
that go “Vroom” or “Boom,” marking success by make and model, engine or barrel
size, horsepower or scope strength, color or stock type. These little kingdoms
have a work car, a play car, a truck, a motorcycle, a dirt bike, a
four-wheeler, a boat, a jet-ski, a pontoon, an RV, and anything else we can get
that will make our kingdom just a little bit nicer. Then there are people who
build kingdoms out the intangibles, like the affirmation and respect of others,
the constant wrangling of attention and a desire to be in the limelight all the
time.
We build kingdoms to ourselves, and this is the problem with
Diotrephes in 3 John. He was trying to establish his own little kingdom, and he
was not going to let John or any of the other apostles try to invade his little
kingdom. He was thriving on the respect of the believers who mistakenly looked
up to him. He was the king and they were his subjects who were to simply do his
bidding. He had been side-tracked into believing that a kingdom here was the
thing that he should strive for. He had missed the teaching of Jesus that would
have liberated him from the enslaving drive to have others affirm him.
Jesus said in Matthew 6, “seek ye first the kingdom of God.”
The goal of this life is not to be little kingdom builders, but rather to be
part of the building of the massive kingdom of God. Unfortunately, people are
distracted from ultimate goal of building God’s kingdom, so they end up
frustrated and devastated when their little kingdom crumbles. Diotrephes missed
this, and we can miss it too if we are not careful. So, seek ye first the
kingdom of God.
Food For Thought: What are some things that are in your life
that would fit in the category of building your own little kingdom?
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