The Kingdom Isn't on Your Plate | Apostolic Wisdom Daily Manna

"For the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking, but of righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit." (Romans 14:17, BSB)

Every Indian wedding has the same quiet argument. Veg or non-veg? Who sits where? Who eats first? People remember the food longer than the vows. Paul is writing to believers in Rome who were arguing the same way. Some Jewish believers still held to the old food rules and special days. Others said those things no longer mattered. Both sides were sure they were right, and both were judging the other. Paul cuts through it. "The kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking." Foods and days were part of the shadow. Colossians says the same: they were "a shadow of the things to come, but the substance belongs to Christ" (Colossians 2:17). So what is the kingdom? Three things. Righteousness, a right standing given to you in Christ. Peace, the end of war with God (Romans 5:1). And joy, all of it "in the Holy Spirit.