”Not
everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but
only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.” (Matthew 7:21 NIV)
We sometimes believe that the age in which
we live is totally unique and it’s never been more difficult than today to be a
Christian. The truth is, truthfully, that Christians in every era had its own
battle against unbelief and different attacks on Christianity’s expectations.
Catherine Booth who
lived at the end of the 1800s had a well appreciated preaching reputation along
with her husband and they witnessed large numbers of people accepting Jesus in
their lives. She said on one occasion:”… we can’t reach the masses – they have
such disturbing preconceived notions against all that resembles sects that
they’ll never come… May the Lord show us what to do… I believe…. that the
religion that pleases God lies more in doing
His will than in exhibiting positive
feelings…” Large numbers of people came to faith. Nonetheless she was
conscious of the difficulty in reaching the masses due their preconceived
notions. Does it feel familiar?
But the most
important message is perhaps the last of her utterances, where she describes
two forms of Christianity, one that does God’s will, and the other that wants
only to experience wonderful feelings. If we want to please God and if we want
to enter the heavenly Kingdom one day, we must pose the question to ourselves. Do I want to do God’s will or do I only want
to experience wondrous feelings?
Prayer
Jesus, thank you for all the wonderful
experiences You allow us to share with You. However, help us not to become so
occupied by the beguiling feelings that we forget to do Your will.
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