Made to Rule

Back from vacation and back to the discussion board. I have had many days to think whilst away, though given the lateness of this posting, my brain activity is not likely to be to par. However, you will find that the topic certainly is.

Made to Rule. Made to rule what? This reference is to our purpose in life, our design, if you will. We are made with a function and planned implementation. We are designed to complete a task. We are placed at the start of the track and asked to run the race to completion. So what does that look like? What is this purpose? What are we made to rule?

Every last one of us has a "kingdom" or "queendom" - a realm that is uniquely our own, where our choice determines what happens. Here is the truth that reaches into the deepest part of what it is to be a person.

Further reading extrapolates on this subject. Allow me to summarize: we have a kingdom that has been given to us. It consists of every action, thought, word, or deed that we can possibly choose to make and hence affect the outcome of. This simplifies to two words: Free Will.

Without free will it is impossible to "rule". This was the first task given to the man Adam when God formed him out of the dust. God did not give jobs to the stars or the plants or the animals. Those he created and called good in doing exactly as they did. But to man God gave free will; to man, God gave instruction. We were tasked to rule over all that is before us. Never did God instruct us to rule over others (in fact the Israelites had to beg to get a king for themselves), but always God instructed us to be masters over our own lives and our own dominions.

What are our dominions? In my opinion, every interaction you have in the day is your dominion. How you choose to respond to emails is your dominion. How you choose to interact with the checkout lady at the grocery store is your dominion. How you choose to play with your kids, to love your husband or wife, to greet strangers, to talk to friends, to work at work, to sing at church, to play sports, and every other action you could possibly think of. That is your kingdom. You freely choose the result of every one of those interactions. But there's more.

How you choose to think about other people, that's your dominion. How you choose to want or not want what others have, that's your dominion. How you choose to lie on a test or cheat on your taxes or insult a police officer or shove an opponent when the ref is not looking. These are all part of your "kingdom" because in each and every case you have the opportunity to make the choice of the thoughts you will think and the actions you will take. If you didn't, you could not claim free will, although many have tried that approach precisely to escape such responsibilities for their own lives.

On the bright side, should you choose to embrace part of your purpose for living, you will receive your very own kingdom over which you have complete control. That strikes a nerve, doesn't it? Don't we all, deep down, desire to control things in life? Often times we take this out towards others through manipulation. We were made to rule over our own lives, but for some reason that's not enough. Perhaps we realize what a poor job we do of it after all, and we seek another life where we can try again. I've realized this in my own life over the past few years and sought to correct it. But it's hard. I often fail at this task. It's so hard to make my own life the focus of... my life. This is where God steps in.

We are meant to exercise our "rule" only in union with God, as he acts with us. He intended to be our constant companion or coworker in the creative enterprise of life on earth. That is what his love for us means in practical terms.

Haven't you ever wondered what God's love really means for you? In practical terms it means that he has made it possible to reestablish relationship with him and to carry out your work on this earth in union with him. Think about all the excuses that come to mind when you try to be a better person. "It's too hard." "I just get caught up in the moment." "My emotions get the best of me." "Nobody's perfect." All very true statements reflecting an absence of a union with God necessary to achieve the results we have in mind.

What we can do by our unassisted strength is very small. What we can do acting with mechanical, electrical, or atomic power is much greater. But what we can do with these means is still very small compared to what we could do acting in union with God himself, who created and ultimately controls all other forces.

I like to think of it this way. Picture an old medieval kingdom. There's a king and a queen and the knights of the round table (who dance whenever they're able). Now picture yourself as someone in this kingdom. Pick a profession. Are you a blacksmith? A farmer? A merchant? A knight? You probably work hard, know your stuff, and would like to do well in the world. But you live in a kingdom under a king, and he has laws and regulations that must be followed. If you are a knight you could fight for the king and join his army and have provisions and quarters and weapons provided. Or you could be a bandit who lives in the forest and robs from the passer-byes or a mercenary who hires himself out to anyone with enough coin to afford him. If you are a merchant, you could do trade in the villages and cities, travel the king's roads and sell your goods across every border. Or you could be a traveling gypsy who sneaks into towns to peddle behind the tariffs and the law.

In each case you are given a choice. The king rules the kingdom with a purpose of seeing it flourish and grow. His laws may seem limiting at times, yet his influence is undeniable. We have a dominion in this kingdom, and it is our choice to work with him or apart from him. Work with the king and his kingdom is your kingdom. Work against him, and you have but your own measly resources and provisions to supply you.  

If we are faithful to him here, we learn his cooperative faithfulness to us in turn. We discover the effectiveness of his rule with us precisely in the details of day-to-day existence.

Imagine what it would be like to live every moment of every day in perfect harmony and union with what God is currently doing in the world. Do you think it possible? Do you think it prudent? It is certainly a desire of mine, although I have yet to discover how to do it. After nearly five years of trying, I seem only to succeed in this about ten percent of the time. I would like my "rule" to be as effective as possible, and for that, I need to leave the forest and enter the kingdom.