“How is it with the Kingdom of God?”

Ezekiel gives us a clue about the things pertaining to the divine life: “It is a tender shoot, planted on a high and lofty mountain.” You can feel in these words a very personal and intimate person who cares and nurtures and protects the shoot’s life because he takes the tender shoot to the heights of Israel, a noble place found nowhere else.

Paul, in his second letter to the Corinthians reminds us that material things block our way to the Kingdom. Material things weigh us down; keep us chained to the ground of self-centeredness. Paul tells us that this material dependence is not our natural state. Our natural inclination is to God and to heaven. “We aspire to please Him.”

The opening words of John say, “This is how it is with the kingdom of God.” It is our littleness and our simplicity that is the key to heaven. Material possessions cannot open the door, either can pride or envy, or self-centeredness: these are not keys.

It takes just a kernel of faith, step by step, like a small mustard seed; our faith will ‘spring up and become the largest of plants.’ This is how it is with the Kingdom of God: be simple, be little and you will ‘flourish like the palm tree’ ‘planted in the house of the Lord.’