I admit it. There are times I find it hard to believe that what I’m praying in the Lord’s Prayer could ever really happen. “On earth as it is in heaven” seems a pipe-dream when placed next to the evening news. Talk about a dichotomy!
The universal morals I grew up with no longer exist. The Golden Rule has long ceased to be the social norm. People have become self-absorbed, and if you happen to disagree on a point of belief it is automatically escalated into a hate statement. On earth as it is in heaven? Hardly.
Yes, one day every knee will bow and every tongue confess that Jesus is Lord (Philippians 2:10-11), but what about today?
Then I see neighbors wading through knee-high water to rescue a stranger’s cat or child. I see friends gathering to hold a wife’s hand at her husband’s hospice bed. A man opens a Laundromat door for a woman laden with baskets of dirty clothes. A teenager offers a cold soda to the policeman directing traffic around a wreck on an August afternoon.
Perhaps it is partially our job to bring a bit of “on earth as it is in heaven” to fruition. The love of Christ, which flows through us via the Holy Spirit, brings heaven to those who need hope, help, and an understanding heart. Christians are to be Jesus’ hands and feet, showing others how to love, forgive, and pray. To dispel evil and to spread goodness. Is that not bringing a tiny bit of heaven here on earth?
Dear Father in Heaven, your name is holy on earth as well. Lord, help me help others see a glimpse of heaven here and now so it draws them to want to be with you for eternity. Guide my thoughts and actions today to be a beacon of hope to those who need it. In your Son’s name, the name above all names that one day we will all bow to, Amen.
Go Deeper — Today, instead of listening to all the negativity on the news, around the water cooler, and on social media, ask God to show you positive ways people are bringing a bit of heaven to earth. Then ask Him to show you how you can too, each and every day.
Photo Credit: Vincent Guth