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Sometimes in life, the unexpected happens and there is no way we could have been prepared.  But, for many of the big things in life, we are expected to be making preparations to some extent.  People rarely get married without a plan for where they are going to live, when they want to have kids, and how they are going to handle finances.  Over a year's worth of preparations were made by each of our nation's two leading political parties in advance of last week's election.  Students in high school are making post-graduation plans and preparing for them, and students in college are preparing for the real world once they receive their degrees and have to find jobs.  Every level of government has plans and preparations for acts of terrorism and natural disasters.  However, as I wrote at the start, there will always be things that happen so suddenly that we cannot prepare for them and there will always be times when we are not as prepared as we should be.

For the Jews, the kingdom of God was one of those things.  The entire Old Testament was filled with prophecies that were designed to prepare them for the coming of God's kingdom in the person of the Messiah.  However, they couldn't get out of the way of their own expectations.  They expected the Christ to take the world by force and restore THEIR kingdom by reversing the authority that the Romans had over them, despite the prophecies from the Old Testament and Jesus' own words from the New Testament that stated he must suffer on our behalf to fulfill the will of God.  Even John the Baptist, whose birth was miraculous in its own right, was sent to motivate the people to "prepare the way for the Lord" (Isaiah 40:3 and Matthew 3:3).

All of the preparations led up to one moment, the turning point for the entire story of Scripture.  "After John was put in prison, Jesus went into Galilee, proclaiming the good news of God.  'The time has come', he said.  'The kingdom of God is near.  Repent and believe the good news!'" (Mark 1:14-15).  Now, first of all, I think we must understand just how significant it is that Mark even uses the phrase "kingdom of God".  If you look in Matthew 3:2 and 4:17, you'll see that Matthew records both John the Baptist and Jesus as calling it the "kingdom of heaven".  Just so we're clear, I did look up the verses in the Greek, and the English translations are accurate.  So, what makes one gospel writer record it differently than another?  The answer lies in a deep tradition of the Jews to avoid even mentioning the sacred name of God.  Matthew was a Jew writing to a predominantly Jewish audience, while Mark recorded his account of the gospel primarily for Gentiles.  Since Jews felt it was unacceptable for sinful man to even mention God's holy name, they would choose to instead replace it with "heaven" to indicate where the kingdom is from.  While that may seem a little ridiculous in our culture since everyone knows what you're saying anyway, it certainly made me think.  Does the way we speak of God indicate a healthy fear of him?  James tells us that praise and cursing should not come out of the same mouth (3:10).  But do we really care?  Personally, I just hurt somebody very close to me with words and actions yesterday, yet here I sit today with the privilege of writing a blog about the kingdom of God.  Based on my sin and God's holiness, I really shouldn't be allowed to.  But I want to tell you about the reason that I am allowed to move forward, which also happens to be the requirement for being a part of the kingdom of God.

Jesus preached for all to "repent and believe the good news".  Many biblical interpreters have said that the phrase can be considered a summary of what is required for salvation.  What I think is interesting is that the two parts of that phrase go hand-in-hand.  To believe the good news of Christ is to follow him wherever he leads us.  To follow him where he leads us is to repent.  Now, you may be wondering why I say that if you aren't clear on the actual definition of the word "repent".  It actually has very little to do with apologizing or feeling sorry as many assume.  Think about it.  In those passages where Jesus is recorded as preaching this and then calling the first disciples to join him, the disciples were all fishing when Jesus invited them to follow him.  Did they need to apologize for fishing?  The point is that to repent is to literally change our lives, to stop going the direction we were going and follow a different path.  Friends, it is impossible to follow Jesus and join the kingdom of God without repentance.  To follow him is to live in such a way that NO OTHER path makes any sense.  For me and anyone else who has regrets over sinful choices, there is only one acceptable response - repentance.  All we can do is honestly take inventory of our choices and the paths we took to get to those choices, and then make a decision to go a different direction.  When I realize I have fallen into sinful choices, it's generally because I have not invested in my relationship with Christ.  So, to repent for me means to turn back to the path where I invest more in that relationship.  Repentance is something that happens both when we first choose to follow Christ and the kingdom of God as well as many times during the journey.

Jesus had the right to say that the kingdom of God was near because, unlike us, he was perfect and had knowledge of the Father's will.  However, he said that it was "near", not "here".  That's because this kingdom does not take by force.  It can be all around you, but you are not a part of it until you repent and make the choice to become part of it.  The Jews were not ready to give up the path that they wanted.  Are you ready?  The Bible tells us there will be a time when it won't matter who is ready.  "At the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father" (Philippians 2:10-11).  You can decide not to believe what the Bible says, but that doesn't mean it won't be right.  It clearly states that EVERY knee will bow and EVERY tongue confess, not just those that are ready.  Fortunately, that time hasn't come yet and anyone who has not been ready for God's call to follow him and become part of his kingdom still has a choice.  Are you ready?  If not, I hope you repent today and choose to follow a new path, the best path there is.