Matthew 11:12 “From the days of John the Baptist until now, the kingdom of heaven has been forcefully advancing, and forceful men lay hold of it.”
Kingdom thinking will embrace the entrepreneurs. Basic definition of an entrepreneur: someone who organizes a venture (business or otherwise) and assumes the risk for it. In other words, an entrepreneur for the sake of the Kingdom of God is ready to take risks. So many of us want to play it safe and if we sense that everyone else is with us on it we might dare to step out. Not so with an entrepreneur. He sees what needs to be done whether or not anyone else is stepping out to see it done, or to do it with him.
A survey was taken among 50 octogenarians (those over 80 years of age). They all had one thing in common. They had been saved for 50 years or more. When asked if they could live their lives over again what they would have done differently, most of them said that they would have taken more risks. What a testimony!
The Gospel will advance through (might I say) entrepreneurs who are willing to leave all and go – according to the command given them by God. They are willing to set out for a venture to see the Gospel spread throughout the world into every people group.
They are men/women whose faith is a conviction and not merely a preference. They are men and women of the same caliber as Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego who did not bend their knee to Nebuchadnezzar’s statue that he had built, and then were willing to go into the burning furnace for their conviction. This was the result with the king: “Praise be to the God of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, who has sent his angel and rescued his servants! They trusted in him and defied the king’s command and were willing to give up their lives rather than serve or worship any god except their own God. Therefore I decree that the people of any nation or language who say anything against the God of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego be cut into pieces and their houses be turned into piles of rubble, for no other god can save in this way.” Daniel 3:28-29
They are men and women like William Carey, father of the Modern Missionary Movement.” When he was told to sit down and be quiet about converting the heathen he spoke even louder not only with words, but actions, and off to India he went. Forty years later he had started institutions of higher learning, translated the Bible into six Indian languages: Bengali, Oriya, Marathi, Hindi, Assamese and Sanskrit as well as portions of the Bible into 29 other languages. He also brought in a printing press and established a newspaper as well as getting the government to outlaw practices like infanticide and suttee (in which Hindu widows would immolate, sacrificing themselves on their husband’s funeral pyre).
Was William Carey an apostle, entrepreneur, prophet, etc.? Perhaps he was all, but one thing was for certain; that he was a man with Kingdom thinking. He was a man who saw that “the kingdom of heaven has been forcefully advancing, and forceful men lay hold of it.” Matthew 1:12 (KJV)
We all have a purpose from God, and faithfulness is what God’s people are crowned and rewarded for. We need to have “kingdom thinking” to fulfill our purpose.