Who Enters?

Life is a journey.

As with all journeys there is a beginning, middle and end. There are high points and low points. Sometimes even in the same day.

A journey indicates movement, motion, energy, and to some extent vitality and “newness”.

Everyone is on a journey.

Jesus accommodates people.

Jesus meets Nicodemus on his journey where Nicodemus is. The ABC Ohio leadership conference on Friday and Saturday, of which I was only on about 60% of Friday convicted me in our ministry here: we need to be intentional about accommodating one another across generations.

Do you expect people to meet you on your terms?

The kingdom of God is open.

It is not exclusive in the idea that only a “certain” group of people can get in and no more. To some extent this was the belief of the first century Jew, the kingdom of God was only for Israel and you had to be an Israelite to be part of it. They knew the future kingdom was coming and were looking for the Messiah to usher it in. It was going to be reality and change life as they knew it on Earth, in the present.

We must be transformed.

This is the concept behind being born again, which I think a better way of understanding it is being born from above. We must switch allegiance.

The kingdom of God is experience-able.

Jesus goes on to talk about the wind blowing. We may not understand the wind but we can experience it. We may not be able to pinpoint it, it is mysterious, but we know the effects.

The kingdom of God is noticeable.

The kingdom is not just a future kingdom, though it is that, John tells us that by our deeds, our actions, we live out the kingdom and therefore can be witnesses to the kingdom.

Have you entered the kingdom?