Today I was drinking form a Styrofoam cup and talk to my wife, ok I was not drinking and talking but you get the idea. As we were talking I noticed the sun hitting my cup and became fascinated by the make up of it. No, I was not ignoring her talking it was during a break in the conversation. This cup was made up of thousands of little individual Styrofoam pieces. Have you ever seen the little balls that are in stuffed animals if not you will have to trust me they are a pain the buttocks. They stick to anything and get all over the place. However, that is exactly what this cup was made up of.
They through some process were pressed flat and stuck together. There were no two pieces alike that I could see. They did not make a pattern nor of any kind. It was a very random and unprocessed grouping of individual pieces. There were actually spots that there were no foam it seemed that what ever was holding them together was also filling in the empty spots. I then broke off a piece of the cup and tried to pull just one of the individual pieces off and away from the others but I could not do it AND let me tell I tried several times. I was amazed how this thing was holding liquid and had been formed into the perfect shape to do so. Then it hit me this little foam cup was a picture of the kingdom of God.
Individually we follow anything we jump on to anything that is near by. The problem is that with a just a little shaking we fall off. There is nothing holding us together or in place in any kind of designed form. I have met a lot of people like this they jump on to the first thing that sounds good but then are quickly shaken off when problems come.
I then let the idea run a little farther and started thinking about how these pieces stayed connected. There was this invisible force holding them in place and no matter how I tried to remove them this force and the other pieces would not let go. This glue or epoxy whatever it is not only held them if actually filled in where there were no pieces. I thought about the verse in the bible that says “no one shall take them from my hand” and got a whole new appreciation for the Kingdom of God and its awesome diversity.
There is no two of us that fit the same way. We are all different, even identical twins are normally 20% genetically different. Some need loud music other worshipful quite music. Some need symbols to help identify with faith. Others need good solid teaching from the word on constant bases. The differences go on and on but we all fit together to form the Kingdom.
God takes all of us odd shaped and individual pieces and through the actions of Jesus and binds us together to form His kingdom representation here on earth. We should be just like that cup we should never let anything take an individual piece. We should hold on to each other come what may. When I tore a piece from this cup not only did many others hold on but so did the glue. Now matter how small a piece the glue was still there.
I believe we have a lot to learn about God from this cup. God wants to put the shape of Kingdom here and now for people to see and experience. I believe to do this he will use all the individual lives that call to Him. Through the actions of Jesus He has glued us together no matter the shape or size of our faith. We need to love each other so tightly that no one individual will be able to be separated from the kingdom.
Unlike this cup though, we are not a finished item. The Kingdom is ever changing and growing adding new pieces to it, never losing the shape the God has in mind. We sometimes only see gaps and holes in this world but we need to remember that God’s love and grace will fill in those gaps. Thank God for the little thing in life that he uses to teach us simple creatures.
My pray is that you and I will see that we are part of the Kingdom and we are held together through faith in Jesus Christ. May we learn to love each other so tightly that no matter what happens we will never let one of us be separated from amongst us. May your Kingdom come Lord! Use me as a part of it!!!
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