by David Brenneman
“Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven will enter. Many will say to Me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name cast out demons, and in Your name perform many miracles?’ And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness.’" Matthew 7:21-23.
“But when the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the angels with Him, then He will sit on His glorious throne. All the nations will be gathered before Him; and He will separate them from one another, as the shepherd separates the sheep from the goats; and He will put the sheep on His right, and the goats on the left. Then the King will say to those on His right, ‘Come, you who are blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. For I was hungry, and you gave Me something to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave Me something to drink; I was a stranger, and you invited Me in; naked, and you clothed Me; I was sick, and you visited Me; I was in prison, and you came to Me.’ Then the righteous will answer Him, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry, and feed You, or thirsty, and give You something to drink? And when did we see You a stranger, and invite You in, or naked, and clothe You? When did we see You sick, or in prison, and come to You?’ The King will answer and say to them, ‘Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did it to one of these brothers of Mine, even the least of them, you did it to Me.’ Then He will also say to those on His left, ‘Depart from Me, accursed ones, into the eternal fire which has been prepared for the devil and his angels; for I was hungry, and you gave Me nothing to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave Me nothing to drink; I was a stranger, and you did not invite Me in; naked, and you did not clothe Me; sick, and in prison, and you did not visit Me.’ Then they themselves also will answer, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry, or thirsty, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not take care of You?’ Then He will answer them, ‘Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to Me.’ These will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.”" Matthew 25:31-46.
"So then each one of us will give an account of himself to God." Romans 14:12.
"So take care how you listen;" Luke 8:18a.
"Then Jesus said to His disciples, “If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross and follow Me. For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it; but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it. For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul? For the Son of Man is going to come in the glory of His Father with His angels, and will then repay every man according to his deeds." Matthew 16:24-27.
A lot to read, but as with all Scripture, all truth to take in.
What we read throughout is that a life in Christ isn't lived for self. A life in Christ will show Christ to all who see and interact with such a life. A life in Christ will be evident as will a life that is not when all stand before Jesus to give an account of their lives.
All who have ever lived will be standing before Jesus and all will either be among the saved by Him or among those who rejected Him.
What has your life looked like? Are there only sporadic moments of Christ revealed in you or is it non-existent, or is your life a shining example of one all-in living for Jesus?
We need to be careful how we listen because of what Jesus said in another passage. What enters the ears affects the heart and mind. In recent decades we can apply a saying "garbage in garbage out".
None of us in Christ are going to get it right every time but it is on us to strive for living for Jesus in all that we do. Doesn't matter if it's doing the dishes or being the CEO. Jesus said in everything we do. Read Colossians 3:23-25.
Would that we could see a visual representation of two piles. One of what we've done thus far in obedience to God and the other of what we did not. Then to see the fire of His Truth applied to both. Would such a sight change your way of thinking going forward?
It doesn't matter what we think or our opinions thereof. What matters about the life we lived is what it will look like when we stand before Jesus to give an account of our lives. Did we love God with our everything and love our neighbors as ourselves? Did we do everything as unto the Lord? We we hoarders vs people blessed and in turn blessed others? Were we rich in our lives towards our relationship with Jesus?
The reality is, Scripture says to treat each day as if today were the day when Jesus would return. Live with that expectancy. Live with that thought in how we live, living generously, living with forgiveness in mind towards others. Building upon our relationship with Jesus, remembering our first love with Him.
What indeed would your life reveal if today were that day you give an account of your life before Jesus?
In 1917 Thomas O. Chisholm wrote "Living for Jesus". Here's the first verse and the chorus.
"Living for Jesus a life that is true,
striving to please Him in all that I do,
yielding allegiance, glad-hearted and free,
this is the pathway of blessing for me.
O Jesus, Lord and Savior,
I give myself to Thee;
for Thou, in Thine attonement,
didst give Thyself for me.
I own no other master;
my heart shall be Thy throne.
My life I give, henceforth to live,
O Christ, for Thee alone"
Think about what you feed your mind and heart with. Think about those two piles. The day we stand before Jesus there will be one pile and after the fire of His Truth touches it each person's work will be made known. Will you be giving any kind of crown back to Jesus for how you lived your life or will you be left with nothing?
Live for Jesus with all your heart, mind, soul and spirit starting right now. Love your neighbor as yourself right now.
Live for Jesus in all that you do starting right now.
All NASB Scripture Excerpts used by permission.
New American Standard Bible
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