Not far from the kingdom of God
Christianity is not a religion of book; (Yes Bible is the word of God)
Christianity is not a religion of commandments (Commandment to love and others are extremely important).
Christianity is a relationship with Jesus, Abba and Holy Spirit.
It invites us, under the inspiration of Spirit, to live as children of Abba as Jesus lived (his entire life)
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One of the scribes came to Jesus and asked him, “Which is the first of all the commandments?” Jesus replied, “The first is this: Hear, O Israel! The Lord our God is Lord alone! You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart,
with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength. The second is this: You shall love your neighbour as yourself. There is no other commandment greater than these.” The scribe said to him, “Well said, teacher. You are right in saying, ‘He is One and there is no other than he.’ And ‘to love him with all your heart, with all your understanding, with all your strength, and to love your neighbour as yourself’ is worth more than all burnt offerings and sacrifices.” And when Jesus saw that he answered with understanding, he said to him, “You are not far from the kingdom of God.” And no one dared to ask him any more questions. (Mk 12:28b-34)
The scene is familiar. Interestingly scribe replies the same answer of Jesus, but adds something more; two commandments are worth more than all rituals and practices. His understanding is wholesome. He knows his stuffs and he knows its relation to all rites and practices too. And Jesus says,
You are not far from the kingdom of God.
Not in, but not far from. What does he need to do be there? For us to think…
A distraction for our thinking: To the thief on the right side, Jesus said, “You will be with me in paradise.”
