Matthew 7:21-8:13
Back in the 90s, when I was active in preaching, I would always delight when new translations of the Bible came out. I would always read through them to see if they got it right or not (Ha!). When I read the scholar and pastor Eugene Peterson’s translation called “The Message,” I thoroughly enjoyed it. I could take exception with some passages, but, in my opinion, he made the intent of the passages come to life in the vernacular. I especially liked the way he managed some of the verses from the Gospel of Matthew. I wrote a devotion back then based on his translation. When I quoted Matthew 7:21 and following directly from The Message, I used the abbreviation TM.
Some think that having an “in” with God is like gaining access to a computer program: if you know the right password, you’re “in.” But Jesus corrects that kind of thinking in this passage. He says that there’s no secret formula, no magic words, no hocus pocus that will give anyone a right standing before God. God cannot be manipulated. “What is required is serious obedience” (TM). Many are only interested in going to church and saying prayers so they can get something from me, Jesus says. They hope to win special favors in this life, like winning the lottery, getting out of trouble of some kind, or giving them good luck day after day. They think that they will also be rewarded in the afterlife for using my name in this life to get what they want or to make their lives easier. Boy, will they be surprised in the end when I say, “…you missed the boat!…. You’re out of here!” (TM)
Some read the bible like W.C. Fields did (‘looking for loopholes, my dear! Looking for loopholes.’). God’s Words are “incidental additions . . improvements to their standard of living”(TM). That is to miss the boat completely! God’s Words are not just home improvements, but “they are foundational words, words to build a life on”(TM). Only a life founded & established on God’s Word (the Bible) will be able to withstand the storms of life. If your life is not built out of the bricks of God’s Word, sooner or later, the big bad wolf (Satan) will come along, and he will huff, and he’ll puff, and he’ll blow your house down. “You are like a stupid carpenter who built his house on a sandy beach.”(TM) But if you build it upon God’s unchangeable truths, “you are like a smart carpenter who built his house on solid rock. Rain poured down, the river flooded, a tornado hit – but nothing moved that house.” (TM)
Build your house upon the Rock.