it really matters

“Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. 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 in your name perform many miracles?’ Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!'" ~Matthew 7:21-23

"Imagine that my family goes on a mission trip together for a month and we have a young married couple come and house sit for us. Before we leave I give them a notebook with 10 or 12 pages of fairly detailed instructions for taking care of the house and the pets. I tell them when to water the plants. I write out where to find the food for the cat and how much food to give it. I remind them to get the mail. I inform them that the downstairs toilet overflows and clearly state where the shut-off valve is just in case. When I give them the notebook the couple commits to doing what is says. Now I want you to imagine that I come back and all the plants are dead. The garage is full of trash. The toilet has been overflowing for days and the basement is flooded. Then I look in the backyard and there is a little gravesite where the cat has been buried. Then the couple who has been house sitting comes up and explains how helpful the notebook was. In fact, they have memorized certain sections and I can see where they have highlighted different areas. They inform me that they went over parts of the notebook every night before going to bed. What am I going to say? I'm going to say, 'Away from me, you evildoers!' They may have spoken words of commitment, but there is no evidence that those words meant anything." ~Kyle Idleman, Not A Fan. 

Does the fruit in your life, the actions that make up your days, show your commitment to Jesus? Jesus said that no bad tree bears good fruit, and no good tree bears bad fruit. Thus, we can determine what we truly believe by how we truly live. And this standard is not a matter of just being a nice, good, moral person. It's a matter of doing what God's Word says. Jesus clearly said that if we have faith in Him, we will obey His commands. And it's not from trying harder and harder to do it all, it's simply because true Biblical beliefs will cause Biblical lifestyles. 

Go take a minute, read the Bible, and determine whether your life matches up. If not, the truth may be that you've never really known Jesus. You've known of Him, but He's not your best friend or the love of your life. But you've done all sorts of wonderful things, godly things, things that the Bible even said to do! You've done them in His name and for His glory, right? Clearly, from the verse at the beginning of this post, there are many who will say exactly that. However, according to His own words in Matthew 7, it's knowing Jesus that really matters. It's all that really matters. And it really matters.


I know where I'm going. And I know that it's not because of a single thing I've done. It's because I have a relationship with Jesus Christ. I know Him, and He knows me. Praise God.