Thought of the Day !!

Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. On that day many will say to me, 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?' And then will I declare to them, 'I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.'
                                                               Matthew 7:21-23 (ESV)

Too many people today are living under the assumption that all is good with this life of theirs, as well as the life to come.  Jesus makes it clear that there will come a day when there are those who will stand before Him thinking that they are about to enter Heaven.  At this point in time, they will be astonished to find out that their whole lives were lies and that the devil convinced them that their ways were the best ways.

Who are these people Jesus is speaking of?  These are the ones that do not do the will of the Father, but instead live by their own wills, wills of "lawlessness". 

One of the two or three scariest verses in the Bible, this is one that better not be neglected by any one of us.  The simple truth is that making a profession and being baptized is not the end all of salvation.  Salvation is something lived out.  It is about loving Jesus.  Loving Jesus is about obedience to His will, and His will and the Father's will are the same.  Once we truly accept Jesus we are changed and led to repentance.  We don't become perfect, and we don't have our lives all worked out.  But we begin a journey of life change. 

What leads the way in this change is a change from self-seeking to God-seeking.  When our thoughts and actions are about what we want most for ourselves, our family, our church, our ministries, etc. then we are not truly repenting of our sin.  When our actions show that we desire God's will in our family, church, ministries and all other things, then repentance is being lived out. 

Check your life today.  Ordinary daily activities happen that are not planned by God or do not amount to a whole lot.  But the attitude behind everything we do is so important.  Are we seeking to obey God and make Jesus proud of us?  Or will we seek what serves our own best interests? 

Often times the two will be the same.  But be careful when they don't that you don't begin thinking your will is always God's will...that is, unless you've obtained Christian perfection. 

None of us on that most important day want to hear these words, "I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness."

In the love of Christ,
greg