We who know a better way than the selfdom of this present age, yet say nothing, will stand before a Holy God someday and be held accountable for every word we did not speak.

How incredibly selfish we who have heard His Voice are. Where is our love, our compassion? How can we stand by and see the least, who are blinded by unholy gods, wander about with no sense of direction, vulnerable to the enemy’s deceitfulness? Do we not realize yet that we who have accepted His love and forgiveness—His very life—have no right to our own?

How dare we think it is okay to be so wrapped up and ‘busy’ with our own ‘important’ lives while our weaker brothers and sisters wander aimlessly because we haven’t the courage to reach out to them and tell them about a better way—the better way we found through our own dark days.

God does not save us for ourselves so we can put our polished soul on a shelf to collect dust that only tarnishes the luster of our lives that were once made new in Him. He saved us to use us. It is that simple. It is the only repayment God wants, yet He will not demand it. Instead, He waits for us to come to our spiritual senses, to go beyond mere words to action. He is not interested in our profession of faith; it is our sacrifice He waits for.

Jesus said, “Not everyone who says to me ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the Kingdom of Heaven, but only He who does the will of my Father.” The ‘will of my Father’ seldom begins with the big things in life. More often than not, it begins—and ends—with the small, the everyday ‘ministering in the Name of Jesus’ His love and the truth of His Word to those around us.

We have cheapened His Grace by keeping quiet when we hear sin glossed over. Jesus said, “Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your Name? Did we not drive out demons? And perform many miracles?’ Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me you evildoers.’” Jesus knows us by what we do out of obedience to Him because we love Him.

The very next verse says, “Therefore, everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice, is like a wise man who built his house upon the rock that will withstand any storm. To not put His words into practice is to invite destruction—the same kind that swept the house built on the sand away.

So what is this foundation that will ensure ‘this house’ will stand secure until He calls me home? It is the Word obeyed and applied. It sounds so simple—Jesus saying, ‘If you love me, obey me.’ When we obey Him, we prove that we love Him. We go beyond mere words of affection to love expressed. This is how He knows us.

He is saying, ‘Do you love me? If you do, obey Me even in the smallest things. Acknowledge Me even in the seemingly inconsequential, the wayward thoughts, the doubt and indecision, the laziness and careless living, the worldly conversation, the self-centeredness.’

We who know Him must be willing to completely surrender even the heretofore hidden places of our heart, so we may walk in unbroken fellowship with the One who truly understands our weakness.