Matthew [7:21]-23 Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord’, will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven will enter. Many will say to Me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name cast out demons, and in Your name perform many miracles?’ And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; Depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness.’
I boarded a flight one time from Nigeria to Ivory Coast. My seat was on the first economy row. Soon afterward a richly dressed woman came on who had a seat further back. When she discovered the location of her seat, she began to protest loudly. She wanted to sit on the first row. There was an empty seat there. She insisted that the stewardesses give her that seat. After a very loud altercation for about 10 minutes, they gave up and let her sit there. (In America, she would have been escorted off the plane. But this was not America)
Across the aisle, there was seated a man wearing traditional Islamic dress. He was closely observing this ongoing loud drama. When the plane started to take off, this lady then began to pray loudly In Jesus’ Name that we would all make it safely. I thought, “Don’t bring Jesus into this!” I was very embarrassed because I felt that she put shame on the name of Jesus and took away any witness to that Islamic man.
There are many people who know about Jesus. They have information about him, but they do not know him. They do not have God’s Spirit living inside them to guide their lives. In Matthew [7:21]-23 Jesus talks about those who thought they knew Jesus, but find out on Judgment Day that they were wrong.
I can’t judge that lady on the plane. Maybe she was a true Christian, but the fruit of her life was not proving that. All of us have a bad day once in a while, but if the pattern of our lives is like this then we have to question ourselves. Each person has to examine their own heart and be sure that they have Jesus in there and not just the knowledge of Jesus.
Harriet Bowman