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Today's Quote
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Today's Verse
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Daily Wisdom
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In Matthew 7:21 Jesus says, "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." The word "Lord" indicates an attitude of submission on the part of the one uttering it. One's Lord is one's master.
Jesus is our master -- our Lord. He says, however, that simply calling him that is not sufficient. We do not get to heaven by mere acknowledgment of God's lordship. Though salvation is a gift of grace through faith, the measure of our faith is our response to God's will.
What is involved in doing his will? In verses 22 and 23, he indicates that preaching in his name is not enough. Casting out demons won't cut it. Performing miracles is insufficient. Wow! Certainly all of these things are mighty good so why does he say that doing these things is not enough?
This passage is similar to 1 Corinthians 13 where those who have gifts of tongues, prophecy, and sacrificial giving are incomplete unless they have love. What, then, is love? Paul describes it as patient, not jealous, bragless, not arrogant, not acting unbecomingly, not self-seeking, not easily provoked, not concerned with wrongs suffered, not joyous in unrighteousness, joyous in truth, bearing all things, believing all things, hoping all things, enduring all things, and never failing.
Love is not something done as much as a way of doing or being. It has to do with attitude and character -- with who we are. Could this be what Jesus meant when he said that we must do the will of the Father?
John tells us in 1 John 4:8, that God is love. Perhaps Jesus is telling us that to do God's will is to be loving, that our accomplishments (teaching and even displays of supernatural power) would not be enough without proper character.
Of course, Jesus also said that in John 14:15 that if we love him we will keep his commandments. So, we have to do as well as be. He seems to want a completeness about us that involves both what we are and what we do.
