Obedience is the Ticket

The 7/21 verse of the day is from Matthew 7:21, "Not all people who sound religious are really godly.  They may refer to me as 'Lord', but they still won't enter the Kingdom of Heaven.  The decisive issue is whether they obey my Father in heaven."  NLT*

I didn't write it; I'm just the messenger!  This is Jesus speaking to us.  The question is, are we listening?   I consider everything in the bible to be the inspired word of God and important for us to take seriously.  Picking and choosing what we want to follow from the bible and ignoring what makes us uncomfortable, or challenges the way we live and the choices we make, is like playing spiritual roulette. We can get away with it for a while, maybe even a lifetime, but this verse indicates that obedience to God is the ticket for entry into heaven.  It is that and so much more.  God reaches and teaches us through obedience.  I believe it is the key to understanding God's grace and enjoying relationship with Him.  Obedience, out of love, is a true and fulfilling freedom. 

Religion is made by man.  A lot of people get caught up in the "trappings."  They get trapped by the parameters of their religion and totally miss out on getting to know the God it is supposed to represent.  My suggestion is direct, but I believe it needs to be.  If our so-called religion does not lead us into an authentic deeper relationship with the true God, we need to get rid of it!  We should start all over again and ask God to be real to us.  I think He will oblige.  It is up to us to want to know Him fully and be led by Him.  He tells us how to do that in His word. 

Are you like me?  Do you often disregard directions?  When I buy something, I tend to try to figure it out on my own and throw the directions aside.  It is usually not a good idea, because I either mess it up or it takes much longer than it would have if I had only looked at the directions.  The same is true for God's Word.  He gives us directions for the best life, but we often try it on our own, mess it up, and waste precious time and effort doing it.  That makes me say, "DUH!"  I also think it breaks God's heart.  He tries to help us, but we are a stubborn and prideful people.  To our detriment, we like to do it our way.

I don't want to stand before God on Judgement Day and have to find out the true meaning of today's verse.  I hope I'm smarter than that.  This time, I'm going to read the directions given to me in God's Word.  I think they will help me put together a bigger, better picture of who God is and what His best is for me.  I think it will help teach me His ways and how I can love Him more.  As I seek and obey Him, I believe I will inevitably find and know Him.

As I often do, I'm going to take this verse home with a favorite translation, the Message.  Matthew 21-23 says this, "Knowing the correct password—saying 'Master, Master,' for instance— isn't going to get you anywhere with me. What is required is serious obedience—doing what my Father wills. I can see it now—at the Final Judgment thousands strutting up to me and saying, 'Master, we preached the Message, we bashed the demons, our God-sponsored projects had everyone talking.' And do you know what I am going to say? 'You missed the boat. All you did was use me to make yourselves important. You don't impress me one bit. You're out of here." 

If that makes you say, "Ouch!", look at it further and read the directions. They're only there for our good.

*Note: I often use a NLT bible from 1997.  It has been updated since then, but I love this older translation for it's clear and concise delivery.  I often use biblegateway.com and similar resources to look at various translations, but this version is one of my favorites, especially for this verse