It’s Not What You Know But . . .

Give Christ his place then but deny entry to all others.  – Thomas à Kempis

When Jesus spoke the words we now know as the Sermon on the Mount, he explained the availability of the Kingdom of God for everyone, many who before that time had been shut out, marginalized as it were. He announced to the people around him that the Kingdom, the Reign, the Love of God was literally “in their midst”.  No matter who they were, they were all invited into God's presence, to be children of God whether they were descendants of Abraham or not. Jesus invited them to himself, to have confidence in him, to follow him.  He told the people that to follow him meant to walk in the light, being able therefore to see the way into God's love received and given.

That same message, the Good News, is also for us today.  We are invited, literally, to follow this Jesus into life, real life, the truest life, abundant life, the life in the Spirit, the life now and for all eternity.
Before we embark on this life we ought to carefully read Jesus words that come at the end of the Sermon on the Mount in chapter 7 of Matthew's Gospel.  He tells his audience that not everyone who calls him “Lord” is a member of the Kingdom, but only those who do the will of God.

Read the last verses of chapter 7.  They are instructions for building a good life, an acceptable life to God.

That's all there is to it.  It's not about what you know but about how you live.  And Christ desires to be right there in the center of YOU.