How Does God Command Us To Live In His Kingdom?

Kevin: Welcome to Press Pause, the under 10-minute family worship podcast. I’m your host, Kevin, and I’m with my friends Jared (What’s up Kevin!), and Trey (Hey Kevin!). This podcast is designed to help you—dads, moms, grandparents, and guardians—share big truths about Jesus with your kids. Just listen along with your family and keep your finger near your device so that you’re ready to press pause and talk about this week’s big truth with your kids.

Last week we took some time to talk through what God’ kingdom is (“Where we live life with God under his loving rule.”). This week, we’re going to drill down further and talk about how God has called us to live in his kingdom. Before we dive into God’s wisdom for how to live— I want to ask you guys about some silly life advice you got as a kid. It could be something someone heard from somewhere (who knows where these things actually come from?) that you came to believe as a young kid.

Trey: For me, it was simple - “Step on a crack, and break yo’ daddy’s back.” I have no idea where or from whom I heard this goofy rhyme, but I can tell you that I spent my entire childhood jumping over cracks in the sidewalk, and leaping over them when I ran across the playground. I don’t recall ever telling my kids this bit of craziness, but all three of them have picked up the same habit and hop over all the sidewalk cracks we come across walking through our neighborhood.

Jared: To have friends, you’ve got to be a friend. 

Kevin: If you eat carrots, you’ll get insane night vision

Now that we’ve heard plenty about what we thought was wise living as kids, let’s check out this week’s questions and learn how God would have us live. Trey, can you introduce our question for this week?

Trey: Definitely! We’ve got three short questions this week, but they all work together to paint a picture of how we’re to live when we’re following Jesus.

We’ll start with ‘How does God command us to live in his kingdom?’ We are commanded to love God and our neighbor. This summarizes God’s law. Then we’ve got two follow-up questions to help clarify things. ‘How should we love God?’ We love God by obeying and serving only him. ‘How does God tell us to love our neighbor?’ We should love our neighbor as ourselves.

Kevin: Those questions and answers flow together really nicely. Where do we see this stuff show up when we read our Bible?

Trey: Great question! We always want to look to the Bible to find the truth God has for us. We find these truths in Matthew 22:37-40. Listen while I read. Jesus replied, “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.’”

Press pause and read Matthew 22:34-40 together with your family and then come back. 

Kevin: We’re back. Jared, can you help us unpack this passage and help explain why we need to worry about how we live anyway.

Jared: I’ll do my best. In this passage Jesus is answering the Pharisees (the know-it-all leaders), who asked Him what the greatest commandment is. In fact Jesus’ words here point us directly back to Deuteronomy 6:5 WAY back in the Old Testament. What does it usually tell us if someone goes to the trouble of repeating something? That’s right, when people repeat things to us (our parents, or maybe our teachers) it’s usually to show us that something’s important. Jesus seems to be doing exactly that here.

First, we’re instructed to love God (vertical, drawing a line straight up and down between us and him), not just with some part of our lives, but with everything we have (our entire heart, soul, and mind). This isn’t a commandment we should take lightly, and isn’t something that’s optional for us when we’re following Christ. So then, how on earth do we manage to follow the command Jesus gives us here? Remember our next question/answer - we can love God by obeying and serving only Him. How then do we obey God and find ways to serve Him?

Well, we can only obey God if we know what he wants us to do. How that’s gonna happen?

Kevin: Maybe he’ll send us a text with some instructions?

Jared: Sort of. God the Father has given us his very words in the Scriptures we were just reading. The Bible paints a beautiful picture of what life should look like as we follow Jesus and as we read the Bible the Holy Spirit empowers us to both obey God’s instructions and to step out and serve God where he calls us. 

Sometimes God invites us to some really hard things like traveling around the world to tell people about Jesus. Other times he shares something simpler (but no less important) for us to do, like being a good friend who can listen. God calls us all to different things, but as we read and study God’s word, pray for his guidance, and grow in our love and affection for Him it becomes easier to follow His lead and see what he would have us do.

But that’s not all. Jesus reminds us here that after loving God, the next most important thing we can do is to love our neighbors (horizontal relationships, stretching your arms out wide and loving the people right around us)! He specifically tells us to love our neighbors as ourselves. That is, treat the people around us the way we’d want to be treated. In the same way you take good care of yourself, do the same for your neighbors. Be kind. Be generous. Be honest. Be helpful. God has extended much grace to us, and that frees us to share that grace with those around us.

Jared: Press pause and take a few minutes to talk about these truths with your family. Get specific about how your family can love God with all of your lives. What are some ways you can spend some time serving God alone, or together with your family? What are some ways you can love your neighbors (in your neighborhood, in your class, etc.)?

Kevin: Annnnd, we’re back. It’s good to think about practical ways we can grow and show our love for God as well as our neighbors together with our family. Trey, would you pray for us and ask God to help us as we continue to learn how to love and serve God and our neighbors?

Trey: I’d love to. Father, thank you so much for demonstrating your love for us by sending your Son, Jesus, to die on our behalf and invite us back to life with you. Help us to continue growing in our love for you, and the people you bring into our lives. Amen.

Trey: Thanks again for listening to Press Pause, the 10-minute family worship podcast. Be sure to subscribe to Press Pause in your favorite podcasting app and leave us a rating or review. Also be sure to follow Gospel-Centered Family on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram. Join us next week for more big truths about Jesus for your whole family.

Advertisement or Sponsorship:Press Pause is brought to you in part by the Love Thy Neighborhood podcast: exploring today’s cultural moments through true stories of social action and Christian faith. Check out the show that Christianity Today called “amazing and authentic” by searching for Love Thy Neighborhood on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or at love thy neighborhood dot org.