Obedience

A few days ago I wrote this scripture verse on the white marker board in my classroom:  "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!"

A number of my friends and I agree, this is one of the scariest verses in the entire Bible.  It makes me acutely aware that there will be hoards of people that believe that will be spending eternity with God, and yet they will not.  I have pondered this verse a number of times and then the other day as I wrote, the answer struck me.  "...(O)nly the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven," will go to be with Him. 

Does that mean that only the ones who follow the 10 Commandments?  Only the ones who obey God perfectly?  Only the missionaries, the pastors, the Sunday School teachers, the church goers?  Only the ones who live lives that are more good than bad?  What does that mean?

I sensed that the Lord was telling me that those definitions all fall short.  None fits this verse. 

The "...(O)ne who does the will of my Father who is in heaven," means those who obey what God has told them to do.  Those who do exactly what He has instructed them to do are the ones that follow Him to heaven.  If He bids them to come to Him and to accept Christ as their Savior, then they are to do so.  If He calls them to adopt, then they are to do so.  If He calls them to sell their things and move elsewhere, they are to do so. What about even crazier things?  Didn't Abraham put his son on the altar (even though Abraham had waited years and years to have a son)?  Didn't Noah build an ark (even though he lived in a very dry place and the people around him thought he was crazy)?  Didn't Joshua march and shout around the city of Jericho (even though the people of Jericho had weapons and looked at him as if he was a nut)?  Didn't Gideon tell a large number of troops to go home (even though the opposing army was way bigger than his)? 

In each of these instances, the command of the Lord was to do something quite a bit out of the ordinary.  Others would call them nutty or even bizarre.  But, the men in these examples carried out the commands of the Lord anyway.  They were more concerned with obeying the voice that they had heard from God than worrying with the crowd and it's uninformed opinion.

Thus, in considering the verse from Matthew 7 which I mentioned at the top of this entry, we would be wise and very mindful of the eternity which lies ahead, to do what the Lord has called us to do.  In fact, to disobey the voice of the Lord and to choose instead to follow the crowd because it's easier or less nutty, could eventually lead you down a path you won't want to follow. Another verse in Matthew says, "Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it (7:13)".

Obey the Lord. Period.
You never know where it'll lead you.....
Blessings, kim