Close to the Kingdom

"When Jesus saw that he had answered wisely, He said to him, 'You are not far from the kingdom of God.' And from then on no one dared ask him any more questions." Mark 12:34

Ooh... I really like that last line. Jesus has a way of having the last word. After all, He is the Alpha and the Omega isn't He? Jesus said the man was close to the Kingdom for two reasons. One, he was literally close because Jesus is the King, therefore the closer you are to Him, the closer you are to His Kingdom. Also, Jesus told Him He was close to the kingdom because the man had just said that what Jesus was teaching was wise. We say of course it was, but this teacher of the law didn't grasp that yet, but He was getting closer. What had Jesus said?

He was asked what the greatest commandment was? He answered, 'The most important one is this; Hear O Israel, the Lord our God is One. Love the Lord your God with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength. The second is this: Love your neighbor as yourself, there is no commandment greater than these." The man found that absolutely inarguable and told Jesus that Jesus was wise. To this Jesus replies, 'You are not far from the kingdom.' When we can recognize truth and accept truth and see wisdom we are getting close to Jesus the King. To see the Kingdom, be close to the Kingdom and be part of the Kingdom, all we must do is see the King, be close to the King and be part of the King. Just agree with Jesus and you can get as close to the Kingdom as is humanly possible.

While you are considering that, remember to love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength, AND your neighbor as yourself and you can stay near to the Kingdom and close to the King.

His subject,
Pastor Fred

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