During Jesus' earthly ministry, He often told parables, stories where He would use familiar things and situations to help His listeners understand unfamiliar things. Many times Jesus began His parables with "The kingdom of God [or heaven] is like…"
At the beginning of the month I conducted a funeral for a member of our church. (I also referred to this back in post #145. Check it out!) We had visitation on Friday night. Afterwards the family had plans to gather for supper at the restaurant here in Kanawha. Tess and Lanie were gone for the weekend, and the family invited me to join them for the meal. So I spent an evening as part of this family. I read Scripture and prayed and sat with them at the funeral home. We chatted and shared food at the restaurant. As the evening went along, I felt like I had stepped into a parable.
The kingdom of God is like a family that takes in a stranger who doesn't have loved ones around. The family sees that he is alone and invites him to join them, treating him as one of their own. In the same way, God invites people who are strangers to Him to join His family. He loves and cares for them as His own children. He teaches them to love and accept others, even strangers, like family members. And so God's family grows and God's love spreads until the kingdom fully comes. Then no one will be left alone. Then everyone will be family.
Grace and peace,
BMH
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