Kingdom. Life. Newness.

Sometimes, I wish the stories we read in scripture had a postscript. 

Like the end of a good true-story movie, I want to read about what happened to the man healed of demons, the Samaritan woman at the well, or the blind man given sight. 

What happened after their miraculous encounter with Jesus?

 Did they continue to be amazed at this incarnate God making everything new? Did it set their lives on a new trajectory marked by new life? 

Or, like the nine healed lepers, did they go on their way, celebrating the healing but forgetting the healer? 

I want to know the end of the story. 

I want things tied up in a nice bow. 

I want Hallmark movie endings for every seemingly hopeless situation. 

But that’s not how life following Jesus works. 

My obedience doesn’t have hallmark endings; I’m just called to follow. I may not know the short-term end, but my hope is in the long game. That one day, all things will be made new. Jesus will make all things new. 

In the meantime, He asks me to follow Him with my eyes and ears wide open, ready to catch a glimpse of the Kingdom bursting forth, attentive to where he is bringing newness and life in the everyday joys and sorrows. The challenge always being the temptation of cynicism or fatalism that threatens to close my eyes to goodness. 

This week, the Kingdom bursting forth came as a $20 bill. 

“Hey! Will you buy me shoes? I promise to pay you back!” he had asked me. 

And He did. He didn’t have to; we gave away shoes for free. He sees people get new shoes every week. But he wanted to buy his own. And He did.

Kingdom. Life. Newness.