The Rebuild: Matthew 5-7Sample

If you were honest with yourself, how often are your actions motivated by the approval of others? This is a normal human experience. We want people to like us and affirm us, and there is certainly a time and place for that! But Jesus’ words in today’s passage are a cold dose of reality. Those who enter the kingdom of heaven are the ones who do “the will of my Father who is in heaven”. Jesus is concerned about the real motivations of our heart, and He wants that motivation to be driven by the Father’s will!

It is a hard call and we can be all too aware of how often we fall short of the standard here. But thanks be to God that we don’t do any of this in our own strength but through His. In love, God created us in His likeness for His glory, and has given us His Spirit through Jesus to help us do His will.

The Heidelberg Catechism asks the question “What is our only comfort in life and death?” It gives the answer, “That I am not my own, but belong—body and soul, in life and in death—to my faithful Savior, Jesus Christ”. As we walk in obedience to the Father’s will, as Jesus did, we have the beautiful privilege of knowing more of God’s love for us and that is a great comfort to the believer in life and death.

Today, ponder this: Where might God be calling you to obedience today? How might you walk as Jesus walked today? What would Jesus see in your heart if he looked today?