LUKE 6:46 –“Why do you call me ‘Lord, Lord,’ and not do what I tell you?

THEME OF THE DAY. THE QUESTION OF ALL QUESTIONS. Today’s scripture is one of the most soul-searching, heart-penetrating, and revealing questions our Lord ever asked of His people. It is also the most important question confronting us on a daily basis. Just let it sink in for a moment. Jesus says, “Why do you call me, ‘Lord, Lord’ and not do what I tell you?” I admit the question may also be uncomfortable. And it is so for a couple of reasons.

First, the question from our Lord does not allow us to justify neglect of any command. He doesn’t allow us. We cannot make excuses for not doing what He says. He won’t accept them. For instance, Jesus tells us, “Pray with My people”, are we obeying? He says, “Serve one another”, are we obeying? He commands “ Do not neglect gathering with My people”, are we obeying? He instructs, ”Do not love the world?”, are we obeying? He directs, “Make spiritual development of your family your chief priority”, are we obeying? Unless physically hindered, we may never justify neglect of any command. To do so reveals much about our lack of understanding of what it means to love and follow the Lord Jesus.

Next, the question from our Lord and how we answer tells us who is in possession of our hearts and thus our lives. Jesus told us that the measurement of our love for Him is not in our profession of faith in Him but our obedience to Him – “If you love Me, you will keep My commandments” (John 14:15). And here is something extremely important about obedience to the Lord’s commands. They cannot be selective. We don’t get to pick the commandments we like and are “easy” and ignore or neglect the more demanding of them. For instance, we may not struggle with being faithful to obey the command to “Search the scripture” (John 5:39) because we enjoy reading our Bibles, but what about the command to pray with other believers? Do we allow our desire for comfort, the ease of staying at home and not coming out to a prayer meeting or fellowship gathering of other believers cause us to disobey this command of the Lord? Friends, our obedience to all commands of the Lord, without partiality, tell us who is Lord of our lives – Jesus or ourselves. Should we find our obedience selective, our love for Christ is partial and incomplete. It is like us saying, “Lord, I do love You, but only when it is convenient for me.” I know that sounds harsh and “in your face”, but Jesus’ question isn’t harsh, but it is in our faces. There is never a time, apart from emergencies and being physically hindered, we may choose not to obey the Lord; even when it is hard, even when it is demanding, and even when we must put aside personal comfort for the sake of honoring Him in our obedience. And when we do that, we are practicing what it means to be a disciple of the Lord Jesus.

Jesus is Lord, but in a practical sense, He is only Lord to those who obey Him. His Lordship over our lives is measured by obedience, not profession. May we affirm Him as Lord in word and deed!

PRAYER: “Father, forgive me when I fail to do what I know You command of me and then justify such disobedience.”

QUOTE: “Delayed obedience is simply disobedience. And we must come to grips why we allow such actions in our lives.”