Matthew 7:21-23
English Standard Version (ESV)
21 B)’>says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will D)’>does the will of my Father who is in heaven. 22 F)’>many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not H)’>in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’ 23 J)’>never knew you; L)’>you workers of lawlessness.’
There are lots of encouraging verses in scripture. We like to memorize them and post them on our Facebook pages. This isn’t one of them. This one is frightening and disturbing. It raises the possibility that we might not be as secure in our relationship with Jesus as we would like to believe. It causes us to ask if we really “know” him.
I am a great fan of Tim Tebow. I have followed his career for years as a Gator, a Bronco and now a Jet. I feel like I “know” him. But I’ve never met him and if you asked him he would certainly not know me. Some of us are like that with Jesus. We know ABOUT Him but we don’t know Him. That kind of knowledge is certainly no sufficient to gain us entry into heaven.
To really know someone we have to spend time with them. We all need to read the Bible and learn about Jesus, but we also need to spend time with Him to really get to know Him. We can never know Him too well. But we need to be careful here as well. We have all heard people who have “known” another for years, even been a family member or a spouse, who one day will say, “I never really knew him.” How very sad and how very disturbing for our relationship with Jesus. Can we ever really know that we aren’t just His fans, but that we are His followers and that he won’t say, “I never knew you.” but will greet us with “Well done, good and faithful servant”?
I believe we can. First Jesus told His followers that others would know that we are His disciples by the way we love one another. If you love the children of God, not just in a warm feeling kind of way, but in a unselfish, sacrificing kind of way, then you are His.
If you really know another person, you know what they are thinking. If we have the “mind of Christ” we truly know Him. If we care about the things, He cares about and if we love the things He loves. If we loath the things that He hates, and avoids the things he would avoid, we are His. If the Great Commission is more than a great suggestion to us. If we are compelled to share what He’s done for us, we are His. If we are disturbed by the state of the hungry, the widow, the prisoner, the lost, and are compelled to help, we are His.
If we seek His presence and long for His return, if we want to be more than we are and do more than we have, if we are antsy sitting in our pews, we are His.
We can never have too much Jesus. We can never know Him too well or follow Him perfectly. But we can know Him and we can follow Him and He can know us. There is assurance there.
Be blessed.
Nick
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