On That Day

-

And on that day many will say “Lord, did we not make inspirational posts on social media? Did we not play gospel music and get dressed up for church on Sundays? Did we not donate to Good Will and say ‘God bless’ as we gave a dollar to the guy at the intersection wearing dirty clothes with no shoes?” And Jesus will respond, “Get away from me. I never knew you.” I put a spin on Matthew 7:22-23 because I wanted to make it a little more relatable to help us see that talking and acting like a Christian doesn’t make you a Christian. No more so than standing in your garage makes you a car. 


Christians are followers of Christ. It’s straight forward enough but we need to understand what it means to follow. You see, following someone inherently means you’re not first. You don’t decide; you’re not the guide. Our inability to follow is why many of us fail. “I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me,” (John‬ ‭10‬:‭14‬). In this verse Jesus plainly tells us who he knows (his own) which are the people who follow Him. Jesus said “I never knew you” because we don’t follow Him. If we truly followed Jesus, He would be our primary concern but our actions show we don’t let Jesus lead. He’s not our top priority. 


How can you profess to follow Jesus when our lives are centered around making money, family or our so called “purpose”? We devote a minimum of 40 hours a week to our job and a lot more when you add in everyone’s side hustle. Make no mistake, getting paid even takes priority over family for a lot of people. Some parents work so much they miss out on raising their kids and then wonder why they don’t call or come by often once they’re grown. 


Speaking of kids, it’s very easy to make them our top priority. It seems like everything we do is for them. We schedule our lives around football practices, dance recitals, and play dates. I would also include our spouse as being first on our list of priorities. Of course we’re suppose to love and cherish our families, but we often spend so much time and energy for them that we leave little time for Jesus. How many Bible studies or church events have you missed because it got in the way of their game/practice or friend’s birthday party? Devotion to our spouse can be even worse because of the big influence they have over us. Sunday after Sunday wives skip church service so they can go to an NFL game with their husband. 


It’s sad to say but sports has become a religion for millions of people. The very same people who sit so quietly in worship services will lose their minds cheering during a game. Their man cave is a shrine to their team but a Bible is no where to be seen. They’ll get in long heated debates over who’s the G.O.A.T. but try having a conversion about Jesus and you’ll be talking to yourself. The list of things people put first seems endless. For some people it’s sex (insert your favorite rapper). For some it’s the pursuit of power (insert your least favorite politician). If any person or thing occupies more of your life than God, that becomes your God. That’s why on that day…


Think about it.  



Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Do Your Prayers Tell on You?

-
Do you remember the story Jesus told about two men who went to the temple to pray? One was a Pharisee who thanked God that he wasn’t like other people and proudly listed the things he did right. The other was a tax collector who simply acknowledged his sin and asked God for mercy (Luke 18:9-14). It’s easy to see the problem in the Pharisee’s prayer, but what if we turned the microscope on ourselves? If we took an honest look at our own prayers, what would they reveal about us? So let’s have a little fun and see if we’re more like the Pharisee or the tax collector. The Prayer Life Test For each question give yourself: 2 points  — Often/Yes 1 point  — Sometimes 0 points  — Rarely/No 1) When you pray, how often do you spend time thanking God before asking Him for something? 2) How often do your prayers focus on other people’s needs rather than primarily your own? 3) When you face a difficult situation, do you primarily pray for God to change the situation, or do you ask Him ...
Read more

Passenger Seat Faith & The Trinity

-
It was such a beautiful Saturday morning I just had to lean my head out the window and soak in the sun. My wife was driving and I could sense a little envy for what she calls being a passenger prince. I call it no stress driving because for me  there’s no traffic, no red lights   and no pretending I know where we’re going. My attention was on the sun, a good breeze and good vibes. The only thing disturbing my peace was a podcast playing in the background but as I reached to change the station one of the hosts said, “The Trinity just doesn’t make sense.”  That got my attention. One God and three persons can sound confusing at first and if we’re being real, it can feel like something you’re not supposed to question. But the more I thought about it the more I realized this isn’t about figuring God out on our terms. It’s about understanding what He has already revealed. The Bible is clear that there’s only one God. Deut 6:4 says “…The Lord our God the Lord is one.” That truth...
Read more

Tick Tock. Tick Tock

-
“Another one,” I said to myself while staring at my newest gray hair. “Now I’m matching on all levels,” I sighed as I realized my eyebrows were starting to join the party. The only thing keeping me from looking like a box of Uncle Ben’s Rice was the hair dye sitting on the counter. That was 25 years ago and Father Time loves to remind me his steady march continues. Nowadays it takes a good 5 minute stretch just to work my kinks out and thoughts of beating my grandsons in sports are quickly fading. If you’re like me, you wish you could keep the looks and vitality of youth but I’ve come to realize the aging of our bodies is a daily alarm for us to get right.   We all know people who live the same sinful lifestyle they did when you first met them. Hugh Hefner was 91 years old when he died. Supposedly, he lived exactly how he did when he was in his twenties until the very end. To see someone reject the gift of enteral life because they’re too caught up in this one is disheartening. How...
Read more