“You are not far from the Kingdom of God.”

Job 23; Job 24; Mark 11; Mark 12
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Scripture

Mark 12

28 One of the teachers of religious law was standing there listening to the debate. He realized that Jesus had answered well, so he asked, “Of all the commandments, which is the most important?”

29 Jesus replied, “The most important commandment is this: ‘Listen, O Israel! The LORD our God is the one and only LORD. 30 And you must love the LORD your God with all your heart, all your soul, all your mind, and all your strength.’ 31 The second is equally important: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ No other commandment is greater than these.”

32 The teacher of religious law replied, “Well said, Teacher. You have spoken the truth by saying that there is only one God and no other. 33 And I know it is important to love him with all my heart and all my understanding and all my strength, and to love my neighbor as myself. This is more important than to offer all of the burnt offerings and sacrifices required in the law.”

34 Realizing how much the man understood, Jesus said to him, “You are not far from the Kingdom of God.”

Observation

Jesus summed up the entire teaching of the Bible with these two commandments, “Listen, O Israel! The LORD our God is the one and only LORD. And you must love the LORD your God with all your heart, all your soul, all your mind, and all your strength.’ The second is equally important: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.”

Then Jesus replied to this man, “You are not far from the Kingdom of God”. At that moment I think that the man was about 18 inches away from the Kingdom of God – the distance from his head to his heart.

How close are you? Have you believed in your head but not yet in your heart? If you were to die today where would you spend eternity? I wonder if this man ever became a Christ follower or did he come that close to Heaven but still ended up in hell?

All this man lacked was putting his faith in Christ ... have you done that yet?

Application

I will continue to ask men and women if they have a heart relationship with Jesus and I will continue to challenge them to move that 18 inches that keeps them from Heaven!

Prayer

Heavenly Father, I know that it is my task as a Christ follower to share the Good News. Give me the boldness to share everyday. I pray for my Cuban brothers and sisters in Christ. I pray that you bless them. I pray for Janet the doctor that I met in Cuba that needs to be healed from a chronic illness. I pray in the name of Jesus that she be healed. Nothing is too hard for you.

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