Lenten Devotions - Day 05
“On the day of judgment many will call me their Lord. They will say, ‘We preached in your name, and in your name we forced out demons and worked many miracles.’ But I will tell them, ‘I will have nothing to do with you! Get out o my sight, you evil people!’” Matthew 7:22-23
Ouch! These are definitely not the words of Jesus that we expect. We are perhaps too lulled by Jesus as presented in the hymn, Softly and Tenderly Jesus is Calling to see Jesus in the force of these words. Nonetheless, this is an aspect of Jesus we need to hear. Along with God’s tremendous love poured out for us on the cross of Christ, we must recognize the call to committed discipleship.
We would hardly allow for a marriage partner to assume the goodness of our love would ignore any sense of responsibility and commitment on their part to the relationship. We would think little of one who claimed to love a spouse who consistently neglected and abused them. We would call that an abusive and faulty relationship. Love may be granted with all its tenderness, forgiveness, and willingness to pay a deep price to help the other. That same love, however, demands the sincerity of a commitment in reciprocity.
Some have said that love is a 50-50 proposition. Wiser ones have stated that a lasting love relationship requires that it be a 100-100 proposition. Each one must assume full responsibility to meet the needs of the other, even when the other is unable to respond. Where the commitment is one-sided, however, it is not a relationship of love. It is a parasitic relationship.
Jesus does not offer that we become parasites to a God who fulfills our needs, whims, and desires. Jesus offers rather, that we become wedded to God in a committed relationship where calling Jesus Lord means that we offer our lives to serve the direction God establishes at the expense of our own personal preferences and ambitions.
We may perform deeds of visible service in the name of Christ Jesus without ever bowing our lives in acceptance of Him as Lord. Ambition may drive some to become heralded by men as servants of God, while they serve themselves alone. Wealth, fame, and fortune may take others to make a pretense of Christian service that puts on a respectable show. Allowing the love of God room to grow in our lives and transform us into true servants of the Almighty, however, is a far different thing.
Today’s text comes at the conclusion of Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount. He speaks of works that bear out the truth of our claims of service. If we are to accept Jesus as Lord, we must allow the words of the whole sermon to filter into our daily actions and transform our motives from personal advancement to love that places the needs of others on a par with the way Jesus received those in need of healing, cleansing, forgiveness, and reconciliation. Does the story of my life display the presence, will, and direction of Jesus’ life?
Worship is service and action. Find a practical way to love someone who God loves, but I find difficult to serve. Allow Christ to direct your actions, becoming lord of your relationships with those Christ would touch through you.
“Lord, interrupt my plans, ambitions, and dreams by replacing them with yours. Take my life out of its rut and place me in your path of service.”
—©Copyright 2009 Christopher B. Harbin http://www.sermonsearch.com/contributors/104427/
Ouch! These are definitely not the words of Jesus that we expect. We are perhaps too lulled by Jesus as presented in the hymn, Softly and Tenderly Jesus is Calling to see Jesus in the force of these words. Nonetheless, this is an aspect of Jesus we need to hear. Along with God’s tremendous love poured out for us on the cross of Christ, we must recognize the call to committed discipleship.
We would hardly allow for a marriage partner to assume the goodness of our love would ignore any sense of responsibility and commitment on their part to the relationship. We would think little of one who claimed to love a spouse who consistently neglected and abused them. We would call that an abusive and faulty relationship. Love may be granted with all its tenderness, forgiveness, and willingness to pay a deep price to help the other. That same love, however, demands the sincerity of a commitment in reciprocity.
Some have said that love is a 50-50 proposition. Wiser ones have stated that a lasting love relationship requires that it be a 100-100 proposition. Each one must assume full responsibility to meet the needs of the other, even when the other is unable to respond. Where the commitment is one-sided, however, it is not a relationship of love. It is a parasitic relationship.
Jesus does not offer that we become parasites to a God who fulfills our needs, whims, and desires. Jesus offers rather, that we become wedded to God in a committed relationship where calling Jesus Lord means that we offer our lives to serve the direction God establishes at the expense of our own personal preferences and ambitions.
We may perform deeds of visible service in the name of Christ Jesus without ever bowing our lives in acceptance of Him as Lord. Ambition may drive some to become heralded by men as servants of God, while they serve themselves alone. Wealth, fame, and fortune may take others to make a pretense of Christian service that puts on a respectable show. Allowing the love of God room to grow in our lives and transform us into true servants of the Almighty, however, is a far different thing.
Today’s text comes at the conclusion of Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount. He speaks of works that bear out the truth of our claims of service. If we are to accept Jesus as Lord, we must allow the words of the whole sermon to filter into our daily actions and transform our motives from personal advancement to love that places the needs of others on a par with the way Jesus received those in need of healing, cleansing, forgiveness, and reconciliation. Does the story of my life display the presence, will, and direction of Jesus’ life?
Worship is service and action. Find a practical way to love someone who God loves, but I find difficult to serve. Allow Christ to direct your actions, becoming lord of your relationships with those Christ would touch through you.
“Lord, interrupt my plans, ambitions, and dreams by replacing them with yours. Take my life out of its rut and place me in your path of service.”
—©Copyright 2009 Christopher B. Harbin http://www.sermonsearch.com/contributors/104427/
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