Lord, Lord

Scripture: Mat 7:21-23 Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven. Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works? And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.

Observation: In these passages Jesus concludes the sermon on the mount, perhaps the most profound section of scripture in the Bible. To conclude his teaching, he addresses the subject of Lordship. He identifies who groups who call him Lord, the first call him Lord but he doesn't know them, and the second call him Lord but don't do what he asked them to do. In Jesus' day, land was owned by Lords. The Lords controlled absolutely everything that went on in their land. Most everyone who "worked" for the Lord was his property. The servants of a Lord were at his mercy, if they displeased the Lord then he could punish them up to death according to his whim.

Application: We must determine who our spiritual master is. Is it God, ourselves, or someone or something else? You have to serve someone. Most people in America choose to serve themselves. That seems to be the default choice. Others become totally dependent on someone else, and they serve them. And there are a very few, who choose to not be concerned with their selves or worry about what others think, but rather to fashion their lives around making God pleased. These people tend to be rare, even among the church. Jesus is saying that those are the ones who are going to have eternal life assured. There are others who say that Jesus is their Lord, but don't do what he asked them do do. They are not assured of eternal life according to the words of Jesus.

Prayer: Dear Jesus, you know the plans you have for us. Let us see the plans you have for our lives. Let our purpose be made apparent to us. Let us serve you with all of our heart, all of our soul, all of our mind, and all of our strength. In Jesus precious name.