Dancing in the Kingdom- Table of Contents
Dancing In the Kingdom – Part 3 – Dancing in the Kingdom– Chapter 16 – Fixing our eyes
Everything Belongs
[Bible references: Leviticus 27:30; Psalm 22:27-28; 2 Corinthians 4:1-18; Hebrews 12:1-29]
The gift that true contemplatives offer to themselves and society is that they know themselves as part of a much larger story … Only when we live and see through God can “everything belongs.” …All religious teachers have recognized that we human beings do not naturally see; we have to be taught how to see.[1]
In our last chapter, we looked at the spiritual disciplines which God can use to conform us more to His image. We saw that although those disciplines had an internal focus – they were meant to conform us as individuals. We saw that the disciplines have an external purpose – to enable us to build up others in the body of Christ. That prepares us now to extend our outward focus on God’s work in restoring His kingdom and the many ways in which we can participate with God in restoring the breadth and depth of His kingdom.
All of creation belongs to the Lord. All of creation was designed to be His temple – a place where God would be with His image-bearers. The care of all creation was given to His image-bearers because they themselves are temples of God in whom the Holy Spirit dwells and therefore able to be His stewards. Despite our rebellion, the responsibility given to us was not removed; even though both it and we are corrupted and even though we are unable to remove that corruption. Also, despite our rebellion, our Creator has not ceased to love us. In His inexhaustible compassion, he has not left us to ourselves but means to restore us, along with all of creation. He means to continue the project He began at the beginning of creation, the project of transforming us to become more like Him.
[1] Rohr, Richard. “Everything Belongs: The Gift of Contemplative Prayer.” The Crossroad Publishing Company 2003
Observe
Read Leviticus 27:30; Psalm 22:27-28. Everything, including us, belongs to God. How does that affect how we treat everyone and everything around us?
Dancing In The Kingdom 