Today’s Podcast
Today’s Bible reading plan:
Read it in a year – Job 9-10
see the whole year’s plan [here](http://www.bible-reading.com/bible-plan.pdf)
Today’s Devotional
Matthew 7:21-23
Jesus: Not everyone who says to Me, “Lord, Lord,” will enter the kingdom of heaven. Simply calling Me “Lord” will not be enough. Only those who do the will of My Father who is in heaven will join Me in heaven. At the end of time, on that day of judgment, many will say to Me, “Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name? Did we not drive demons out of the possessed in Your name? Did we not perform miracles in Your name?” But I will say to them, “I never knew you. And now, you must get away from Me, you evildoers!”
What do Jesus’ words mean for us today?
These words of Jesus must have been tough for those who heard it that day. They are probably tough for us if we really stop to think about them a little. Jesus is saying all our good deeds don’t mean anything to God if they haven’t come from an obedient heart. Look at the list of things He mentions as the works of those who He turns away at the day of judgment. Prophesy, driving out demons, performing miracles. Aren’t these the very works He did? Aren’t these the things Jesus said we would do for Him when He departed?
How can He tell us that those who do these very things will not be allowed to live with Him? These people are doing great things in Jesus’ name! They show every evidence on the outside that they are His followers, so how can He now reject them from heaven?
The answer is simple. They haven’t been obedient to Him. Remember Moses? Do you remember why God didn’t let him cross over the Jordan River into the land promised to the Israelites? The event was such a simple thing. God told Moses to speak to the rock and tell water to come out of it to give the Israelites water to quench their thirst. Instead, Moses struck the rock with his rod. Years earlier in the journey God had told Moses to get water by striking the rock and water came out of the rock. So why would God ban Moses from the promised land for such a simple thing, striking the rock instead of speaking to the rock? Disobedience.
But the answer is deeper than that. Look through the rest of the story of Numbers and Deuteronomy. You’ll never see Moses take responsibility for his disobedience. In every cases where the event is told, Moses blames his failure to go into the promised land on his brothers and sisters. He blames their hard-heartedness, not his own. He never confesses that God told him to speak to the rock to get water and in his arrogance and anger at the Israelites, he disobeyed God’s command. Moses never repented of his sin before the people.
Is it this failure to confess that prohibited Moses’ entrance into the promised land? The older I get and the more I read of God’s grace and mercy, the more I think it was Moses’ stubborn failure to take responsibility for his disobedience, more than his act of disobedience that led to his rejection at the Jordan River. The same will be true for these characters Jesus speaks of in His discourse. God demands obedience, not show. He demands true repentance, not sacrifices and offerings and things for others to see.
God wants us to come humbly to Him and listen to His voice and love Him enough to do what He asks us to do, fully, without fanfare. He wants us to just go about our lives with the simple thought of saying yes to whatever He tells us to do. Maybe He’ll tell us to prophesy for Him. But He might just ask us to give kind words to those around us that are hurting. Maybe He’ll ask us to drive demons out of the possessed. But He might just want us to hold the hand of a grieving mother for a lost child. Maybe He’ll want us to perform miracles in His name. But He might just want us to go about our daily business with a smile on our face and joy in our heart so others know He lives in us.
The question He has for me and you today is whether He is Lord of your life. When He is Lord, He can ask you to do anything and you will say yes. Anything means the most important, earth-shaking responsibility in the world that will put your name in the limelight and everyone will see and know you. And it means the lowliest, nastiest task you can think of that no one in the world wants to do and everyone would look down on you because of you did it. It also means doing things that will cause people to completely ignore you and never know you’ve done anything at all, but God knows. It means obedience. That’s what Jesus being Lord means. Saying yes to His command every time, in every circumstance, at every opportunity.
If He truly is Lord, you don’t need to worry about what He will say to you at the day of judgment. His words to you will be, “Enter into the joys of heaven, you good and faithful servant.” Is He your Lord today? He can be. Just ask Him to be, then say yes to Him, always.
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