Sunday, May 03, 2020

What is at stake when you call Jesus "Lord"?

The purest inventory...
Jesus said, "Why do you call me 'Lord, Lord,' and not do what I tell you?" (Luke 6:46 ESV)
Jesus gives incredible criteria: (1) do you call me Lord? (2) do you do what I say?

See it? I mean, seriously, beloved, do you see it? If we call Him "Lord" and do not do what He says, we do not in fact know Him as Lord.
Let's take the inventory:
-- Do you call Jesus "Lord"? Check yes or no.
-- Do you seek to obey Him? Check yes or no.
If BOTH aren't "yes," Jesus is not your Lord.
For example, do you have plans to go ACTIVELY love the Body of Christ today? If not, you are not seeking to do what He says!
Do you pray? Do you witness? Do you love your neighbor / the brethren / your friends / strangers / your enemies? Do you give? Do you forgive? On and on and on... Jesus's question is wildly probing!
What is at stake in calling Jesus "Lord" (or not) and doing what He says (or not)? Let's look at the full passage.
"Why do you call me 'Lord, Lord,' and not do what I tell you? Everyone who comes to me and hears my words and does them, I will show you what he is like: he is like a man building a house, who dug deep and laid the foundation on the rock. And when a flood arose, the stream broke against that house and could not shake it, because it had been well built. But the one who hears and does not do them is like a man who built a house on the ground without a foundation. When the stream broke against it, immediately it fell, and the ruin of that house was great." (Luke 6:46-49 ESV)
Knowing Jesus as Lord and doing what He says builds one's life on solid rock. Anything else is building life without a foundation.
Do not fall into the sort of wrongheaded thinking that gives lip service to God without giving life submission to match.

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