“Change your life, not just your clothes. Come back to God, your God.” Joel 2:13 (MSG)

As I have continued in my study of the ‘Red Letters’ of Christ, those portions of scripture where Jesus is speaking, and are highlighted in red, I am again reminded of how very simple, direct and clear the Lord was in His communication. After He was baptized by John, and tempted by Satan in the wilderness for 40 days, His very first message to proclaim was this:

‘You must change your hearts-for the kingdom of Heaven has arrived.’ Matt. 4:17

Our entire journey of faith leading to a walk/relationship with God begins here. It begins with our willingness to change our hearts. To change our thinking. To change the way we make decisions. To change what we love and HOW we love. To change what and who comes first in our hearts. Our priorities upended so that new priorities rise to the top.

Jesus did not say you SHOULD change your hearts; He said you MUST change your hearts. Nothing else on earth will matter if we miss this first step.

From that first, unequivocal command came the next: “Follow Me, and I will teach you how to catch men.”

Clear, direct, unblinking. Follow Me. If at any time in my life I feel I have lost my way. If my thinking is unclear, my heart is troubled by conflict and controversy, I come straight back to this place. Follow Me.

And His promise with that command is that He will make us into what He needs us to be. He will make us into what the world needs us to be. Those who can catch men. Those who can carry the message and the love and the power of the good news of a great kingdom that has already arrived.

The declaration that this kingdom has already arrived always jars my heart. So many times I see myself as trying to ‘bring’ the kingdom of God to earth. To declare it, as for the first time. But Jesus said, two thousand years ago, that it had arrived. The kingdom of Heaven had arrived because Jesus was standing there, in the flesh, declaring it. No more waiting was necessary. These thoughts both stir and empower me.

And again, the “Follow Me.” Without following Jesus, we will never be able to accomplish His kingdom plan. He wants to teach us the way. By the Holy Spirit He wishes to guide us into all truth, and empower us with wisdom and discernment, so that when we put out our nets, they will indeed catch fish. For it is not His will for any to perish. He wants those nets to be full. He is fully committed to our success. He shed His own blood to seal the deal.

The kingdom of God has arrived. It is already here. Jesus said so.

We must change our hearts.

~ Debbie Ecker