MY ROCK, MY FORTRESS AND MY GUIDE

But he replied, ‘Truly I tell you, I don’t know you.’ —Matthew 25:2

Since you are my rock and my fortress, for the sake of your name lead and guide me. —Psalm 31:35

             These are eternally frightening words to hear from Jesus—”Truly I tell you, I don’t know you.”  He says it again in Matthew 7:21-23—

“Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one 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 in your name perform many miracles?’ Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’”

             Those who know Him are known to know Him by their obedience.  We see this in the verses following (Matthew 7:24-27) —

“Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock. But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell with a great crash.”

             The wise man built his house on the rock and “Since you are my rock and my fortress, for the sake of your name lead and guide me.”  So those who know Him, or are known by Him, are led and guided by Him.  They are the ones “who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice.”  It is not about being busy in “ministry.”  It is about being obedient to Jesus and what He desires.  Those are the wise men who truly know Jesus as their rock.

             Those claiming to know Jesus by their “works” are those who have also heard the Word, but they are not obedient to the Word, but they are busy with their own religious activities— listening to their own voice and not that of the Shepherd (John 10:27-28).  Whose voice are you and I following?  Our own word or God’s Word?  Dear Father, may we follow Your Word by putting it into practice.  Yes, may we be wise in the power of Your Holy Spirit and in the authority of Your Son Jesus— trusting the Rock of our salvation to lead and guide us.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vXMPNXXnCls&list=RDvXMPNXXnCls&start_radio=1