GOD BLESSED THEM AND SAID TO THEM, “BE FRUITFUL AND INCREASE IN NUMBER; FILL THE EARTH AND SUBDUE IT. RULE OVER THE FISH OF THE SEA AND THE BIRDS OF THE AIR AND OVER EVERY LIVING CREATURE THAT MOVES ON THE GROUND” (GENESIS 1:28).
TODAY’S DEVOTION
Religion is man’s idea, not God’s.
God’s original idea is much bigger and much better than anything we humans could ever dream up. And what was God’s big idea? He decided to extend His heavenly Kingdom to the earthly plane, to expand His supernatural realm into the natural realm. Or, to put it another way, God decided to fill the Earth with the culture of Heaven. How did God bring His big idea into being? In this, as in almost everything else He does, God did the unexpected. Typically, human kingdoms and empires rise—and fall—through war and conquest. Not God’s. Because His thoughts are not our thoughts and His ways are not our ways (see Isa. 55:8), God did something completely different. When God decided to bring the culture of Heaven to Earth He did not use war. He did not use conquest. He did not issue a code of laws. No, when God set out to bring Heaven to Earth, He did something much simpler, something uniquely beautiful and wonderful.
He planted a garden.
(God’s Big Idea, Chapter One)
CONSIDERATIONS
1. Can you think of three earthly kingdoms that have risen and fallen? Name them and the reason for their ultimate demise.
2. In what ways has religion failed humankind?
3. What is the “alternate government” that will change the world?
4. Because many cultural conflicts are religiously based, what can be done to help solve the differences in ideologies?
5. How can you personally tap into God’s big idea to help change your world for the better?
MEDITATION
God initiated His Kingdom on earth by planting a Garden in Eden, a place specially prepared as the habitation for the first human representatives of His Kingdom government on earth. From this hub of abundance and beauty, they would follow their government’s mandate to “Be fruitful and multiply” (Gen. 1:28 NKJV), filling the Earth with their kind and planting Kingdom “gardens” wherever they went. In this manner, like leaven in bread, they would infuse the territory of Earth with the nation of Heaven.
(God’s Big Idea, Chapter One)
Are you willing to plant a garden in your neighborhood or your city?
What could your first step be?