The Gospel Of The Kingdom

Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you, and learn from Me. -- Matthew 11:28-29

We like to hear about the first verse, verse 28. But Jesus' words, "Take My yoke upon you," are not so popular. You now live for the King, not for yourself. If you want to read the gospel of the Kingdom, go back and read the verses you never underlined, because that is the truth you lack. I do not underline the Bible anymore, because underlining divides the verses into first class and second class. Everything is important. This is the gospel of the Kingdom: "Repent, and believe!" You either will or you won't. We are not saved because we agree to a certain doctrine or formula. We are saved because we obey what God says. All Jesus says is, "Follow Me!" He doesn't say where, or how much He will pay us. He just gives the command. Salvation is a commandment. God wants everyone to be saved, because all have sinned. So He commands us to repent. If we don't, we are disobedient to God. This is why there is a punishment for people who don't repent. If it were only an invitation, there would be no punishment. Salvation is submission. Salvation means coming under Christ. You become a citizen of His kingdom. You are covered by His protection. If a person from another planet were to come and see how Christians live, he would think that Jesus had said something like this: "Seek ye first what you are going to eat, what you are going to wear, which house you are going to buy, which car you are going to drive, which job you are going to take, who you are going to marry--and then, if any time is left, and it it's not too uncomfortable, please do something for the Kingdom of God." My purpose is to extend the Kingdom. So inch by inch I must recover the things that belong to God. To do that, I have to eat; to eat, I have to work. But the purpose of it all is to extend the Kingdom of my Lord. That means my values have to change. I don't work at Ford Motor Company to earn my livelihood. I work because God needs that spot on this earth; He needs one of His soldiers to conquer it for Him. And Mr. Ford happens to support my conquest. But my real Lord is Jesus Christ. Or else I should stop using the name. Because Jesus asks, "Why do you call Me, 'Lord, Lord,' and do not do what I say?"

(From the book "Disciple" by Juan Carlos Ortiz)