PLEASE READ THIS FIRST: Matthew 7:21-23
What do you sense the Lord saying to you in this passage?
“Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not…” (Matthew 7:22)
This is a challenging thought: many will be told “I never knew you”!? (Matthew 7:23)
How is it that so many can think they are serving the Lord, yet do not know him?
Jesus is pointing out that it is not our words but our actions.
“The one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.” (Matthew 7:21)
And what is the will of the Father in heaven… Jesus has just explained it.
Again and again Jesus makes plain that loving God and neighbour is the key.
We are judged by how we treat Jesus in others (Matthew 25:31-46).
It is not our bold words or worship, but our bold demonstration of Jesus-like love.
Having been radically graced, God’s will is that we radically grace others.
I wonder sometimes whether our focus as Jesus followers is skewed.
We are not known for our bold, radical love, but for our strong words and judgments.
We work so hard to be right that we fail to do what is right.
In Jesus’s parable of the sheep and the goats, the “many” are surprised.
How many ‘churched’ people will be equally surprised to hear “I never knew you!”
PRAYER
Lord, show me where my understanding of you is skewed, how I am not knowing or showing you well. I’d rather be challenged now than surprised later!
Do this and live. That is what the Master said. Live and do this.
Loving – Knowing – Doing are three words forming a circle which has no start nor finish. These three belong together. You can not have the one without the other. To know the Lord is to love the Lord doing His will. Words and deeds together show whose I am, depending on His Spirit to guide me along the Way living for Jesus.
Living for Jesus a life that is true,
Striving to please Him in all that I do;
Yielding allegiance, glad-hearted and free,
This is the pathway of blessing for me.
O Jesus, Lord and Savior,
I give myself to Thee,
For Thou, in Thy [redemption],*
Didst give Thyself for me;
I own no other Master,
My heart shall be Thy throne,
My life I give, henceforth to live,
O Christ, for Thee alone.
“but only the one who does the will of my Father” – How do I know the will of the Father? By knowing Jesus and be led by hIm – by the HS. I’ve got to be engaged – I got to be ready to follow the bridegroom so that I might be a part of him. Or in the words of Paul – I’ve got to be ‘grafted in’ to the rootstock – Jesus. More than acknowledgement – Jesus is the link – the gate. It begins with my acknowledgement that I can’t do this on my own – but I need Him – the HS working within me. Lord help me to grow closer to you and to do what you want me to – that is how I can serve you, my neighbours and the planet!