Jesus came preaching the kingdom of God. In one important passage recorded in three of the Gospels, the kingdom of God, salvation and eternal life are all equated with each other, and related to following Jesus. In fact, the word for 'life' and 'salvation' are the same in Aramaic.

In his manhood he identified with such people and was fully involved in their community, the community of ordinary folk caught up in ordinary life. He mingled among them as a skilled and respected carpenter - no pretensions.

Our sin, His holiness-they don't mix. People cringe at the thought that He'd ever leave us. Worse, that He'd destroy us. We don't see God that way. We don't want God that way. We want the understanding, caring, merciful God. The loving God.

I'm out.

The one who always stays. no matter what we do. Because sin just isn't that big to us. That serious. That costly. We want the one who'd never say, "I'm out." I will remember her always. I tell her story nearly everywhere I go.

Early on in their marriage she had come to faith in Jesus Christ. She had shared it all with her husband. The more she grew in faith, delighted in scripture, and saw the Lord miraculously answer prayer, the more she told him. She just kept on telling him. A thousand times, she'd invite him to come to the prayer meetings. A thousand times he pushed her away.