Mark 9:1 And he said unto them, Verily I say unto you, That there be some of them that stand here, which shall not taste of death, till they have seen the kingdom of God come with power.

The reading for yesterday was Mark 9:1-29 and is filled with awe and wonder. Herein is contained the Transfiguration, the identity of the Baptist, a scribe risking it all to seek Jesus in belief, and an object lesson on faith and fasting.

None of that compares to the good news delivered by verse 9:1. Kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth, and this was the one thing all Israel had been waiting to see. What they would see in the working of God’s will in self-sacrifice, atonement of sin, crucifixion, and resurrection did not match the vision they had of the coming Messiah. Rome was not cast out from amongst their midst, Caesar still ruled.

I ask you plainly, some two thousand years after this verse, what does Kingdom come look like to you? I dare say I had a different vision of my own as to what all that entailed. I just wanted out of the pain and many do. Guilt and shame, set me free please. Just like the Jews of that time, I was only thinking about myself.

I was transformed in an instant, but I wasn’t conformed for many years. I read faithfully but it took time for the Word to affect real change in me. I had it in me, I knew the Word, it filled my belly, but it took time for it to reach my hands and my feet. A changed heart is great but when it sits alone basking in His glorious light, it shines on no one to the profit of God.