“Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’ And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.” (Matthew 7:21-23)
“I never knew you.“
I’ve studied these passages for some time and have come to a couple conclusions.
First, notice those being turned away are relying on what THEY have done to get them into heaven. ‘Did we not do this? Did we not do that?’. They bring their works to the gate hoping to gain safe passage. If you come to the gates of heaven with hopes of anything besides Jesus getting you in you will be sadly mistaken. We tend to rely too much on ourselves and not enough on God even in our daily lives.
“I never knew you.“
Second, He says He never knew them. This is very important. Because many people go about their lives claiming to know Jesus. But does He know them? What does it take to know anyone? What did it take for you to know your best friend? You spent time with them, talked to them, shared your thoughts, feelings and fears. Most importantly you learned from them, listen to them, spent time with them. Jesus doesn’t just want you to know about Him like you know about a celebrity. He wants to know you. He wants to have a relationship with you. Like you have with your best friend.
And this brings me to my next most important point. READ YOUR BIBLE!
People, Christians, go about their lives reading their Bible at the minimum they can. Oh they will pray everyday sure. They want God to hear all about their lives and problems. Don’t get me wrong He wants to hear. But when are you people going to give Him a chance to reply? Praying is you talking to God. Reading your Bible is God talking to you.
God has so much for you if you’d just take the time to get to know Him. Truly know Him.
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