The Kingdom of God is Near

 DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO LUKE

THE KINGDOM OF GOD IS NEAR

Luke 10:1-16

10:1 After this the Lord appointed seventy-two others and sent them two by two ahead of him to every town and place where he was about to go. 2 He told them, "The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field. 3 Go! I am sending you out like lambs among wolves. 4 Do not take a purse or bag or sandals; and do not greet anyone on the road. 5 "When you enter a house, first say, 'Peace to this house.' 6 If a man of peace is there, your peace will rest on him; if not, it will return to you. 7 Stay in that house, eating and drinking whatever they give you, for the worker deserves his wages. Do not move around from house to house. 8 "When you enter a town and are welcomed, eat what is set before you. 9 Heal the sick who are there and tell them, 'The kingdom of God is near you.' 10 But when you enter a town and are not welcomed, go into its streets and say, 11'Even the dust of your town that sticks to our feet we wipe off against you. Yet be sure of this: The kingdom of God is near.' 12 I tell you, it will be more bearable on that day for Sodom than for that town. 13 "Woe to you, Korazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the miracles that were performed in you had been performed in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago, sitting in sackcloth and ashes. 14 But it will be more bearable for Tyre and Sidon at the judgment than for you. 15 And you, Capernaum, will you be lifted up to the skies? No, you will go down to the depths.   16 "He who listens to you listens to me; he who rejects you rejects me; but he who rejects me rejects him who sent me."

NIV

After considering the harvest that is plentiful, and whether we should think of ourselves as one of the few workers, we need to ponder on this being welcomed or not welcomed. Of course, we are not traveling town to town, and it is doubtful that anywhere we do go there is any dust. So, how do we make sense of this idea of being welcomed or not welcomed? However, either way the seventy-two were told to tell them the kingdom of God is near. The idea of being welcomed has this concept of finding a person who is more then interested in what we have to say about the kingdom of God. They are hungry for the truth, and are willing to sit and listen, even invite us into their lives, telling us all about their past, and how they never knew this truth about the kingdom of God. They are one of the plentiful of the harvest. Now, this also means we are  not planting or waterer the seed, but we are harvesting the full grow plant, we are gathering souls for the kingdom of God. Now, if when we speak to someone who tells us to take a walk, so to speak,  and has all sorts of reason why they do not want to talk with us about the truth in the kingdom of God, then we are to take that walk, however, still while we might be accepting their rejection, we need to speak, shaking that dust of their lives off our feet, the kingdom of God is near. There is one basic truth we need to consider, and that is, if we truly believe the kingdom of God is near. It is interesting the Greek word eggizo is mostly translated as near but has also been used to say it is at hand.  The question is how near is near, and if we actually believe it is near. However, we have our citizenship in the kingdom of God, then it is very near, or we could say we are living in the kingdom of God, that is how near it is. Nevertheless, are task to tell, or witness about how wonderful the kingdom of God is, both to those who welcome our words, or reject our words. The kingdom of God is near.