What Pulls The Train

Can you imagine what that would be like? Your first, emotional response might be one of terror. The fear of being out of control, of not being able to manage, of someone else calling the shots. But God knows better, and I have one word for what it would be like for us to truly and with integrity seek first the Kingdom of God, and here it is: freedom. Free from worry, free from the clutch of materialism, free from fear of all kinds. We would be free to be in authentic relationships with one another – deep, safe, intimate relationships. We would be free to see God do all that He desires to do, and we know that it is all for good. We know it would be great and incredible and beyond what we can even imagine. We would be free to know – in our heads and emotions and spirits – how deep and powerful and passionate is the love of God for us.

What’s Pulling Your Train?

Many of you know that Joanne and Thomas and I took a week of holidays in June, traveling over 1600kms so my son could ride on a real, live, Thomas the Tank Engine train. It is his favorite, and if Joanne and I are truthful, we love toy trains too…

We were pretty excited – in the children’s stories, Thomas the Tank Engine is a steam train that gets into all kinds of adventures and situations with the other engines, and we were going to ride on a real, life-sized, Thomas the Tank Engine.

Now at my conference I also saw how video can communicate really well, so indulge me for one minute and I’ll show you what this experience actually looked like (and I’ll try to shut the camera off before the scene of me cleaning the lens…).

If you know anything about trains, you recognized that Thomas was not a real train. Oh, he looked real, every child in the place honestly believed they were going for a ride on Thomas the Tank Engine’s train – he was pulling, he was pushing – but that wasn’t true. A diesel engine at that back was doing all the work, and Thomas was just there for show.

So here’s my question, and you probably see it coming. What is pulling your train? What is it that gets you up in the morning, that presides over your schedule, that determines how you will spend your free time, that controls how you are managing your bank account, that you seek first, above all else? Are you seeking first the Kingdom of God, or are you worrying about your own life?

I know that is a challenging question. It is uncomfortable, it’s not safe. It is maybe even a little bit confrontational. So let me tell you why I ask it: it is because I love the Kingdom of God and I love you. And I believe with every bit of me that seeking first the Kingdom of God is the best thing any of us can do, for now and for eternity. I know that it is the answer to every struggle and every pain, and it is ultimately the source of every joy and everything truly worth celebrating.

And everything else we live for is small. It is petty. It is inconsequential compared to the incredible invitation to be a part of the Kingdom of God – not as outside spectators, not on the fringes hoping to catch a fleeting glimpse of a celebrity. As God’s children, holy and dearly loved. Adopted and secure. Resurrected and empowered.