Then they gathered around him and asked him, “Lord, are you at this time going to restore the kingdom to Israel?” (Acts 1:6)
When I was young, my family owned a small lake cottage in northern Indiana. While the lake that our property was on was relatively small compared to others in the area, I marveled at how big the body of water felt. But when I first saw the ocean at age thirteen, my vision of our little lake gained perspective. To this day, I stand in awe at the vastness and beauty of the ocean.
Even after the miracle of the resurrection and the forty days Jesus spent preparing them for his departure, the disciples were still hung up on their vision of what the kingdom of heaven was going to be. By viewing the kingdom of heaven only through the lens of Israel, the disciples remained focused on a much smaller version of the kingdom. Jesus had been trying to break them of this vision throughout his entire ministry. He wanted to call them to something so much bigger.
How often do we let a small vision of what God wants from us influence the way we live? We easily settle for a small kingdom when Jesus is calling us to be a part of a kingdom that includes people from all over the earth and has the power to change the world. Though our earthly kingdoms may fall, this new kingdom has no end!
Don’t let your vision of the kingdom of heaven be too small.
Mark A. Moore, PhD, is an associate professor of theology at William Jessup University and the spiritual formation pastor at Faith Legacy Church in Sacramento, CA.
© 2022 Wesleyan Publishing House. Reprinted from Light from the Word. Used by permission. Scriptures taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®.