Therefore, everyone who will acknowledge Me before men, I will also acknowledge him before My Father in heaven. But whoever denies Me before men, I will also deny Him before My Father in heaven. Don’t assume that I came to bring peace on the earth. I did not come to bring peace, but a sword.
For I came to turn a man against his father, a daughter against her mother, a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law; and a man’s enemies will be the members of his household. Matthew 10:32-36 HCSB
In our scripture passage today, Jesus warns us that we must acknowledge Him to others if we want Him to acknowledge us to God, the Father in heaven. You see the Bible very clearly tells us that we can’t skip the chain of command and go straight to God. We have to go through Jesus. This is why we pray in Jesus’ name. And yes they are three in one person, God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit. So I get that it can become confusing. But one thing is crystal clear. If you deny knowing God while you are here on earth, don’t look for some warm fuzzy welcome up in heaven. in John 14:6-7 Jesus tells us that He is the way, the truth, and the life and no one comes to the Father except through Him. He goes on to say that if you know Him then you also know the Father.
Years ago, when I started working in law enforcement, I worked for our local sheriff’s office and wore a uniform. I worked from 4pm-midnight. I stopped off at a diner just up the street from our office to join some of the guys from my shift for a late night dinner. I ran into an acquaintance that I had met several times with a mutual friend. I walked over to speak with him and he looked at me with this mean look in his eyes. I said hello and reminded him that I was a friend of his friend. He just looked at me with this cold stare and said, “I don’t know you. I don’t know any cops”. Wow! Okay. So this was the first time I realized that the uniform totally changed people’s perspective of who you are. Some in a good way and some not so good. But, no big deal. I mean he wasn’t a friend just a friend of a friend. No big loss, right?
But my senior year, the girl who had been my best friend all through high school just abruptly stopped speaking to me. I had no idea why. I called her at home one night and asked her why and she acted as though nothing was wrong, but continued to not speak to me at school. It was ten years before we resumed a friendship. To this day, I have no idea what the problem was. We have never discussed it.
I can tell you this, when you become a Christian, some so-called friends will turn their back on you. I love my friends and I love my family, but I am just telling you all now; I love Jesus and I will not deny Him to appease anyone else. Been there, done that, and got the t-shirt. It didn’t work out so well.
Now if you wear your Jesus uniform, then you will have this same experience. By this I mean, if you are a Christian, then you put on the armor of God (Ephesians 6:10-18) People notice something different about you. If they don’t, then you have a problem. If you claim to love Jesus, but go out into the world and go along to get along, watch out. You are denying Jesus. If you allow your friends to convince you that God will just overlook that sin you are committing, you are denying Jesus.
In Matthew chapter 7, Jesus tells his disciples that we will all be judged. We can’t profess to be Christians, but act like all the other non-believers. It just doesn’t work that way. He then goes on to say in v. 21-23 that not everyone who calls on Him will enter the kingdom of heaven but only those that do His will. He said that on the day of judgement he will tell many, “I never knew you, depart from me, you evildoers”. Trust me, you don’t want to hear that on judgement day. You want to hear “well done, my good and faithful servant” (Matthew 25:23). You want to hear that you are going to heaven and not being thrown into the lake of fire (Revelation 20:14).
God loves you and He wants you to be a part of His kingdom, but know this, He doesn’t need you. He is the Creator of the universe, He is the King of Kings. He’s got it all. He desperately wants to bless you, but he gives you free will. So the choice is yours, you can accept Him, love Him, and profess to the world that you are His child and He will reward you with an eternity in heaven. Or you can deny Him and He will deny you and throw you into the lake of fire for eternity. Sounds like a no brainer, right? Well it is, but for many years I didn’t get it. I pray that you get it before it’s too late.
Have a great day!