God's Kingdom.

In church we had two readings about the Kingdom of God.

In 1 Samuel 8 we find the people of Israel rejecting God's Kingdom and demanding an earthly king to lead them.

In Mark we find Jesus calling people to rejoin the Kingdom of God.

So what does it mean to accept God as king over us.

Jesus says; "'Whoever does the will of God is my brother and sister and mother.'"  Mark 3:35 (NRSV)

But what is the will of God?

The Old Testament Prophets proclaimed that helping the poor and needy - the widow, the orphan, the alien - was the will,of God.

The Beatitudes proclaim that: Heaven, comfort, meekness, righteousness, mercy, love, peace and endurance are the characteristics of the Kingdom.

But ultimately the will of God is that we love one another.

This simple commandment covers all the other aspects of the God's Kingdom.

So love God and love your neighbor.

And enter into the Kingdom of God.

[Scripture quotations (marked NRSV) are taken from the New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright © 1989 by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the U.S.A., and are used by permission.  All rights reserved.]

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