Don't Miss Out

Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and in your name drive out demons and in your name perform many miracles?’  Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you.  Away from me, you evildoers!’  Matthew 7:22-23 (NIV)

I used to be a teacher’s assistant while attending college.  The subject matter I used to teach was math.  One day a young lady came into our office.  She had failed her required math course three times, and had to obtain special permission from the Dean of Mathematics in order to take it a fourth and final time.  So you can image how it felt - after hours of me teaching, explaining, reviewing and encouraging - when she actually passed the course, and was able to graduate with an earned Bachelor’s degree.  It felt great! But that feeling would have been short lived if after helping her I myself would not have passed my own courses or not graduated with my own Bachelor’s degree.

There is no denying that the same great feeling of helping that young lady is the same great feeling I now have when using my God-given gifts to edify the people of God.  However, it would be more than heartbreaking – it would be a tragedy – if I helped others to change their lives through the Word of God, but I myself remained the same.  This is want Jesus is telling us in Matthew 7:22-23.  It is not enough to do the works of God.  We must also believe in God ourselves.

Today let us recognize that good works are good but they do not save us.  They do not change, deliver or set us free.  Don’t miss out!  The same instructions we give to others based on God’s Word and inspired by the Holy Spirit is the same instructions and inspiration in which we are to live as well.