I woke up the other day thinking about a portion of the old hymn “Lead on, O King Eternal,” written in 1887 by Earnest Shurtleff. 

The Kingdom comes not with a lot of noise but with deeds of love and mercy. This is exactly what Matthew Kelly had in mind when he wrote about “Holy Moments.”

The other day, when my next-door neighbor was out of town, I took a few minutes to blow the snow off his driveway. I would have wanted someone to do that for me. After the fact, I realized it was a holy moment. I’m not claiming that single act will usher my neighbors into the Kingdom, but maybe it will nudge them in the right direction.

By contrast, an out-of-town friend of mine called the other day, early in the morning, breathless with excitement about a new video series, full of “truth” about Genesis. I may be wrong, but such videos often produce “swords’ loud crashing” as we’re tempted to argue people into the Kingdom with the truth (or just make ourselves feel good because we know the truth).

I pray that I’ll do better in 2020 producing deeds of love and mercy. Join me?

Discover creative ways to encourage others and to motivate them toward acts of compassion, doing beautiful works as expressions of love. (Hebrews 10.24, Passion Translation)

Encourage the believers to be passionately devoted to beautiful works of righteousness by meeting the urgent needs of others and not be unfruitful. (Titus 3.14, Passion Translation)