Monday, March 14, 2016
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Over the years our son-in-law's made no secret of his basketball loyalties. Even when he was living in the heart of New York Knicks country, he was boldly and passionately a Chicago Bulls fan, thus giving him considerably more to cheer for over the years, at least those years, than us Knicks fans.
Like many Bulls fans, my son-in-law was wrapped up in Michael Jordan when he was at the top of his career in the 1990's. He read his biography, he taped his championship games, and of course he had to go see him play, and he bought the sports memorabilia associated with a superstar player. At Christmas, we would all fall into his trap and we'd feed his Jordan thing with Jordan presents. He was a walking encyclopedia of facts about Michael Jordan. But if he were to give him a call, I'm afraid Mr. Jordan would just say, "Who is this?" Even though our son-in-law knew almost everything about him, he didn't know him. That's the big difference isn't it?
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about Knowing The Facts, Missing The Relationship.
The gap between knowing about someone and knowing someone is huge, especially when it comes to whether or not you know the God who made you. When you read our word for today from the Word of God, it appears that a lot of people are living with a false sense of spiritual security thinking they're okay because they know a lot about Jesus.
Matthew 7:21-23 are some of the most disturbing verses in the Bible, especially for those of us who have been around this Christian thing a lot. Listen to Jesus: "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. 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 perform many miracles?' Then I will tell them plainly, 'I never knew you. Away from Me.'"
What awful words to hear Jesus say on Judgment Day "I never knew you." And He'll say it to people who knew all the right words, who had all the right beliefs, and they did all the right things, they were at all the right meetings. Apparently, it's possible to have a lot of Christianity and miss Christ; to know a lot about Jesus but not to know Him.
Jesus said the one He knows and who knows Him is "he who does the will of My Father." Well, what is that will? John 6:40 says "My Father's will is that everyone who looks to the Son and believes in Him shall have eternal life." So the difference between eternal life and eternal judgment is "looking to the Son" and "believing in Him." That believe word means to totally trust, to commit yourself to. And it's possible to know all the verses, to have been around Jesus your whole life, to be in a religion that's all about Jesus, and miss the step of actually making Him your own Savior from your own sin. To miss that moment of telling Jesus, "I'm putting all my trust in you, Jesus, and what you did on the cross when you died for the sins I've done."
For some people, the distance between heaven and hell is 18 inches - the distance from their head to their heart. Could it be you've got Jesus in your head, but you've never invited Him into your heart? That you agree with everything about Him, but you've never actually committed yourself to Him? If you have done that, it's settled. But if you don't know you have, you probably haven't.
But that could change in these next few moments if you'd just finally admit that for all you know about Jesus, you don't know Him. And tell Him right where you are that you're moving Him from your head to your heart; that you're trusting Him as your own Savior from your own sin.
Do you know you've done that? Are you sure? Get it done today. Our website is there as an anchor place for you to find the information that will help you be sure you finally belong to Him. It's ANewStory.com.
"I never knew you." Those are words I don't ever want you to hear from Jesus. They're words He doesn't want you to hear. Get to His cross today, where you can finally know the One that you know so much about.