THE STORY OF JESUS: Luke 13:22-27
“I don’t know you or where you come from. Away from me you evildoers!” (Luke 13:27)
Jesus is asked about how many or few will be saved.
He shifts the focus to the man who asks: ‘you make sure you are saved!’
Apparently many think they’re saved, but Jesus does not know them.
The clue to this mystery is where he describes them as evildoers.
How they lived, in willing submission to sin, shows they were not with Him.
Jesus is not saying we have to be perfect to be saved.
Salvation is, and always has been, by grace alone.
But grace has given us everything we need to try and to grow.
The question is, am I making any effort toward being like Jesus?
Is there any indication by my lifestyle that I WANT to do good?
Jesus has offered to help us produce good fruit, as our partner.
If He says ‘I never knew you’, its because we were not working with Him.
We need to ‘make every effort’ (2 Peter 1:3-11) to grow in our faith.
If we do not, we show we don’t care, that we don’t really know Him.
What do you sense the Lord saying to you?
PRAYER
Lord, You can tell whether I am really trying to be more like You. You see my heart and my eagerness… or my lack of it. Help me be eager enough to do good so that You will recognize me as one of Your own.