"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.'" (Matthew 7:21-23 The
Message)
Many are shocked by this statement from Jesus. "But..., but... We did our task!
We followed in Jesus' footsteps, freeing people from demons, healing those who
were ill and lots of projects that helped others."
Our Father, however, sees through these "good deeds". What they did may be
worthwhile; but if it wasn't done out of genuine love, any endeavor is
worthless!
How sad to spend our lives without genuine love. Instead, we use God for our own
profits: to gain money, to act as if we are the only important ones, to focus on
ourselves, etc. These will wail bitterly, missing the boat as they push for self
glory.
When Jesus was in our neighborhood, did He try to focus on Himself? No way! He
was here to love genuinely, healing with love.
We have a newer Aliner trailer. On our second trip with the trailer, we almost
had a terrible accident when we arrived at our campground. We were ready to set
our trailer up when we saw that the spare tire, fixed on a strong metal post,
had fallen over and was nearly dragging the ground.
We asked for tools from the campground and the clerk gave us a small pair of
pliers. They didn't work. It was late in the evening and the real tools were
under lock and key. Unfortunately she didn't want to call the owner to get to
the tools.
What would we do? We prayed, and then my wife walked out onto the camp road and
met a man walking with his family. She shared our problem, and as it happened,
he had the tools we needed. He came to our rescue and took the metal post down.
We put the tire in the trunk, and we thanked him profusely.
Before he left, the man said: "I had decided not to take my tools on this trip.
But somehow I felt I had to take them with me."
Our Father had known in advance that we would need these tools. After all, our
Father loves us!
Do you care for others?
"For God so loved the world, that he gave his only
begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have
everlasting life. For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world;
but that the world through him might be saved." (John 3:16-17, NIV)
Rob Chaffart
The Illustrator: This daily newsletter is dedicated to encouraging
everyone to look towards Jesus as the source of all the solutions to our
problems. It contains a daily inspirational story, a Bible verse and encouraging
messages. HTML and plain text versions available.
The Nugget: Published three times a week, this newsletter features inspirational devotionals and mini-sermons dedicated to drawing mankind closer to each other and to Christ.