Don't Think "We have Abraham as our father."

That's an obscure title for a blog post, I know. It comes from Matthew 3:9, though, and it was spoken by John the Baptist when the crowds were coming out to meet him. He was preparing the way for the Messiah and the coming of the Kingdom of God. He was calling the people to awake from their sleep and complacency. They all thought that they were ok because they were descendants of Abraham. You see, God had made Abraham a lot of promises to bless his descendants. They weren't really focused on a true allegiance to God. They were just hoping to be taken care of and they thought they were because of their ancestry.
But, we have to actually know God. Salvation is not a state of being - it is a person, Jesus. Many claim to be saved and place their faith in their goodness, church attendance, a prayer they prayed, or the fact that they have never killed anyone (thus qualifying them for heaven). John the Baptist rightly says that it is all about relationship with God and that we should not grow complacent in trusting other things, whether it be our family or past experiences.
John says to repent - turn around - the Kingdom of God is coming. We cannot come into God's presence and stay the same. If you encounter God, you change. You have to. He is holy, which means that He is altogether different from us. To be with Him, we must be changed. The good news is that Jesus changes us - He makes us righteous. We must believe and respond to Him. But the result of the coming of Christ is that our lives are different. John the Baptist was calling out to Israel to not put their faith in the past and instead to look forward to God and run to Him, conforming their life to His and turning away from behavior that was contrary to who God was.
As we later see in the life and ministry of Jesus and the Apostles, we cannot change ourselves. Our sin is too great. That is why we must trust and look to Christ. But, John the Baptist's call for us to turn from self-focus to God-focus must still be heeded if we want to see Christ and join Him in His life and redemption.
How can we repent and embrace the Kingdom of God today?
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