Profound Paraphrase

I was recently exposed to--and greatly impacted by--a paraphrase, by Dallas Willard, of what many would consider to be common verses in Scripture, Mark 1:14-15:

"All the preliminaries have been taken care of, and the kingdom of God is now accessible to everyone. Review your plans for living, and base your life on this remarkable opportunity."

Have we taken such a high-level perspective of these verses that we never actually considered what Jesus meant when He spoke these words? Do we actually believe this? Does this impact our day-to-day at every possible level?

For comparison purposes:

Mark 1:14-15 TPT
Later on, after John the Baptizer was arrested, Jesus went back into the region of Galilee and preached the wonderful gospel of God’s kingdom realm. [15] His message was this: “At last the fulfillment of the age has come! It is time for the realm of God’s kingdom to be experienced in its fullness! Turn your lives back to God and put your trust in the hope-filled gospel!”

Mark 1:14-15 ESV
Now after John was arrested, Jesus came into Galilee, proclaiming the gospel of God, [15] and saying, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.”

Mark 1:14-15 NIV
After John was put in prison, Jesus went into Galilee, proclaiming the good news of God. [15] “The time has come,” he said. “The kingdom of God has come near. Repent and believe the good news!”


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