You and I, who seek the Father through the Son and with the Holy Spirit, can be so many portals for the Kingdom of God.
What must we renounce and sacrifice for the Kingdom?
We start by casting down those personal gods and idols, which we allow to enslave and exercise power over us. We cannot even begin to use our wills freely until we are liberated from those powers that control us either subconsciously or in plain view by our deliberate choosing.
We must decide who we will follow.
It is not a matter of dominating and being dominated. It is not a matter of getting the upper hand one day and losing it the next – or protecting our standing as king of the hill. All this is a trap – a viscious cycle that keeps each of us from fulfilling our real destiny.
We were created to subdue – not exploit, rape or abuse – the elemental forces of nature. We were commissioned to be fruitful and to multiply, working in harmony with God’s creation as king of creation. To be king over all strata of our own beings: physical, moral and spiritual.
To do that, we must first be freed from the false paradigm that says we will be consumed by people, powers and events beyond our control if we don’t first consume and control others. We must be free of our fears, which can force us into an unnatural state of anxiety and cripple our gifts. But not to do as we please. Rather, to become aware – for perhaps the first time – of our gifts and God’s call.
So, what must we do to conquer the Kingdom of God, to usher it into the here and now?
We must invite and allow Jesus to liberate us. We are the captives who must be set free from the bondage of too many evils, perversions and dysfunctions. We must be liberated first as individuals before we can hope to be that portal to Heaven. And while this might take time, we can still advance the Kingdom right now by virtue of the fact that we have set and locked our sights on it. By the fact that we “have sold all” for the sake of the Kingdom and have not “sold out” to evil and alien gods.
That is what the Kingdom costs us: everything of our old, self-indulgent, compromised way of living. It will necessitate us staring down our debilitating defects and weaknesses so that we can gaze into the light of Christ and fly into that bright Truth.
We must know that there really is a faith that expresses only truth and where no deception lingers. We must know that there is a family of believers who seek and struggle to live that faith on earth and those who have already attained the dynamic life and complete peace of Heaven. And we must join ourselves to this our true family – helping one another and gaining strength from our solidarity – looked after and guided by the one true Father, Who loves us as no other. We must come home.
What is stopping us? We must not let soured or bad relationships with friends and family or organized religion get in the way of our eternal good. And if we see hypocrisy and dysfunction, then let us step in to help and not accuse. What a solitary road it is to be helpful in the truest spirit of charity. But it is patience and perseverance in that spirit that will bring the Kingdom.
Jesus waits for us patiently. He does not rush. Nor should we unduly rush or pressure others to do what we ourselves are slow to achieve. Let us be patient and encouraging with one another.