Matthew 7:21 “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. 22 Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and in your name drive out demons and perform many miracles?’ 23 Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’
24 “Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. 25 The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock. 26 But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand. 27 The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell with a great crash.”
Observation
I said in my last post that we were created for relationship, today Jesus tells us about some people who claim that they have a relationship but they really don’t.
Not everyone that is religious is going to be entering into heaven, just going through the motions isn’t getting you anywhere. The truth is that if you are not sold out to who Jesus is then you are wasting your time getting out of bed on Sunday morning.
“Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice…”
What words is he talking about? Probably he was talking about the words that he said at the beginning of this sermon. Words like “be humble, be pure, seek his righteousness, be salt and light” are all words that we can use as a foundation to build our lives on, words that will not let us down in the storms of life nor will they let us down when we get to the other side.
Will you reach heaven and hear: “I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!” or will you hear: “Well done, good and faithful servant! Come and share your master's happiness!”
Application
I want to follow Jesus by putting his words into practice. If I could just master obedience to the words of this one sermon in Matthew 5-7 then I would be sure to hear Jesus say “Well done, good and faithful servant! Come and share your master's happiness!”
Prayer
I love your word Lord, help me to always be in close fellowship with you by studying your word and finding out what pleases you and then putting it into practice.
