Free from Insignificance – The Law of Liberty (32)

Free from Insignificance

The Law of Liberty (32)

“Therefore whoever relaxes one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever does them and teaches them will be called great in the kingdom of heaven.” Matthew 5:19

There’s nothing wrong with striving for greatness–as long as we seek it according to Jesus’ standards. Too many Christians have an unhealthy view of themselves or their abilities. I’ve often asked church members how they are serving the Lord, only to be greeted with a kind of shy smile and the answer, “Oh, I’m nobody special; I just try to be faithful in coming to church.” In other words, when it comes to real ministry, I’m not significant.

Francis Schaeffer once wrote a book entitled, No Little People, the gist of which was to insist that every follower of Jesus Christ matters to Him and, therefore, is more significant than he or she knows. Jesus dared to talk in terms of our aspiring to Kingdom greatness in our discipleship. If that’s a possibility, why would anyone not want to pursue it?

Kingdom greatness is what the Spirit of God is seeking to do in us, as we saw in yesterday’s installment. He is equipping us to know and obey the Law of God, which, as Jesus explained, is along the path of Kingdom greatness. Do you want to say to God’s Spirit, “No, thanks, I’m not really important enough for Kingdom greatness; I’ll just keep coming to church”?

The Spirit of God wants you to be great in the Kingdom. Jesus holds open the door to Kingdom greatness. Kingdom greatness is available to every follower of Christ. All we have to do is embrace the Law of God and say with the psalmist, “O, how I love your Law!” (Ps. 119:97). That’s the first step toward Kingdom greatness. Reading, studying, meditating in God’s Law, and obeying and teaching it–those are the remaining steps, and we must take them every day of our lives. If we do, we’ll have no reason to fear insignificance in the Kingdom. Greatness will be our lot instead.

Daily meditation in the Law of God helps us along the path of holiness, righteousness, and goodness (Rom. 7:12). Order your copy of The Law of God, a compilation of the Mosaic Law for contemporary believers, and The Ground for Christian Ethics, by T. M. Go to www.MyParuchia.com, click Publications, then click Waxed Tablet, and scroll down until you see these companion volumes.

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In the Gates is a devotional series on the Law of God by Rev. T.M. Moore.

T.M. Moore is editor of the Worldview Church. He serves as dean of the Centurions Program of the Wilberforce Forum and principal of The Fellowship of Ailbe, a spiritual fellowship in the Celtic Christian tradition. He is the author or editor of twenty books, and has contributed chapters to four others. His essays, reviews, articles, papers, and poetry have appeared in dozens of national and international journals, and on a wide range of websites. His most recent books are The Ailbe Psalter and The Ground for Christian Ethics (Waxed Tablet).

Scripture quotations in this article are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version, (c) copyright 2001, 2007 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.