God’s Kingdom Is Near
Parent from a close relationship with your Daddy King, not for the attention of others.
Does Kingdom parenting seem too high a goal for you?
Your imperfections.
Your imperfect family.
Your imperfect leadership.
You’re imperfect parenting.
The Kingdom feels too far away.
But you need to know something about Jesus…
“The time promised by God has come at last!” he announced. “The Kingdom of God is near! Repent of your sins and believe the Good News!””
These are the first words recorded by Mark in his telling of Jesus’ story. Actually, most likely, Peter dictated the story to Mark. Yes, the bumbling, stumbling, fumbling Peter the disciple.
This is the thesis statement of the Gospel. The Kingdom of God is near.
Near to the imperfect. The imperfect like Peter. The imperfect like me. The imperfect like you.
This is Good News!
Jesus doesn’t require you to get your act together to come near to you. He is already near.
He wants your family a mess. This way he will make beautiful a family who cannot be beautiful on their own.
Without demanding anyone clean themselves up, Jesus let people know his Kingdom is close.
Don’t miss his Kingdom because you want to persist in your sin.
But even more, don’t miss God’s Kingdom because you want to play church games. To make yourself look good. To make your family look like the model family. To always be Instagram worthy.
God is already near to you and playing church causes you to miss a relationship with your Daddy King.
Parent from a close relationship with your Father, not for your Heavenly Father’s (and really other people’s) approval.