21 “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven. 22 Many will say to Me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?’ 23 And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!’ Matthew 7
We worship self-reliance. We prize hard work. We work to provide our kids an education so they can get ahead. We know, deep down, that much success is dependent on who you know, but we try not to think about it.
It isn’t strange that we struggle with the concept of grace, unmerited favor. Even if we get the idea for a while, we slip back convinced we must have to do something. Accept it. We are control freaks. We love the bumper stickers: “God is my co-pilot.” I’ve never seen one proclaiming, “God is my pilot.”
We are naturally bad at relationships. We’re okay with knowing “about” someone, but struggle with “knowing” someone. Doing years of prison ministry I have met endless inmates who have memorized tons of scripture and carry around worn bibles, but who clearly don’t know Jesus. They have tons of time on their hands, but difficulty with relationships is what likely got them where they are. This phenomenon isn’t limited to prison.
Pastor Jason says the above words of Jesus are among the scariest in scripture. He’s right. It’s somehow comforting to practice rites, to attend services, study scripture and do “good” deeds. It’s scary to think these things are useless unless they proceed from a relationship with Jesus.
Just think about how great it would be if we could grasp the truth. It’s all about knowing Jesus, everything flows from that. He’s not hiding. He’s not throwing up roadblocks to our knowledge or avoiding a relationship with us. He’s more than doing His part. We just need to do ours. That’s simply freeing.
Next time someone mentions “who you know” He’s giving you an opening to share the surprising news that it IS all about who you know. It’s great life changing news. Grasp it. Rejoice in it. Share it and
Be blessed.
Nick
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