“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 in heaven. On that day many will say to Me, ‘Lord, Lord, didn’t we prophesy in Your name, drive out demons in Your name and do many miracles in Your name? Then I will announce to them, ‘I never knew you! Depart from Me, you lawbreakers!’    Matthew 7:22-23 HCSB

Several years ago, someone who I run into from time to time and who had always pretended to be my friend and pretended to have great concern for my mom and dad, did something that I considered to be a total betrayal of my mom. I have forgiven this person, I have prayed for this person. I have made an effort to go speak with this person about my feelings, but have been unable to do so. But sadly, knowing that this person only pretended to care so much for my parents has left me seeing this person as evil. I avoid evil.  I am cordial when I see this person in public, but that is it. I would still like the opportunity to talk this situation out, but realize that that day may never come. It takes a great deal of prayer to not be bitter with this person. Several years back while at the funeral of a family member, this person was walking past me and for some unknown reason grabbed me by my shoulders and kissed me on my cheek.  This was something that he had never done before. As this betrayal of my mother occurred only weeks prior, I was shocked and taken aback to say the least. My reaction was not loving and kind, but was subdued because of where we were. I merely pushed him away and looked at him as if he had lost his mind.

I am sure that you have experienced betrayal at some point in your life. I am sure that you have experienced heartache caused by another person.  The Bible tells us that we must forgive those that have trespassed against us if we want God to forgive us (Matthew 6:14). The Bible tells us that we must love our enemies and pray for those that persecute us (Matthew 5:44). But it doesn’t tell us that we have to trust those who have betrayed us, perhaps multiple times. It does tell us that we should avoid evil or even the appearance of evil (1 Thessalonians 5:22). If we try to lead someone to Christ, but they repeatedly reject that, then we are to do as Jesus told his disciples to do and shake the dust off of our feet (Matthew 10:14). Move on, as my pastor told me recently, you have planted the seed, maybe it will be someone else that comes along and waters it and helps it to grow.

Now think about that person that has betrayed you or wronged you in some way. You may no longer associate with them for that reason, right? Perhaps they have betrayed you or committed some wrong against you several times and you have chosen to stay away from them. When this person grabbed me and kissed me, my first thought was, “Why would you do this now when you have never done this before? Have we become better friends, now that you have betrayed my mother? I think not.”

Sadly, there are many people in this world that are oblivious to their betrayal against God. There are many who live blindly thinking that they have an okay relationship with God. I used to be one of them. I sinned against God, I did what I wanted to do and was foolish enough to listen to the devil.  I believed the devil when he told me that God would understand.  I believed the devil when he told me that God would give me a pass. I believed the devil when he told me that God would just overlook my sin and it would not change my relationship with Him.  Sadly, when we sin, we create a barrier between us and God (Isaiah 59:2). This barrier hides our face from God so that he cannot hear our sin.

Our scripture passage for today tells us that no matter how “good” we are that only those of us who live according to God’s will, will enter the kingdom of heaven. You can adorn a church pew every time the church doors are open, be on every committee, and be a busy little church worker and still go to hell. If you do all these things, but don’t love and don’t live in God’s will then he just may say, “Depart from me, I never knew you.”

None of us know when we will stand before God at the throne of judgement. But I do know this, I want a solid relationship with Him now. I want Him to know me and be proud of what he sees.  I want him to say, “Well done, welcome home my child.”

I don’t want someone who has plotted evil against me or a family member, hugging or kissing me. I don’t want to be in close relationship with that person because quite simply I don’t trust them. Can God trust you? Can he trust you to do right by Him? Does He know you like that? Yes, he knows your name, how many hairs are on your head, and every thought that comes into your head as well as every word that spews out of your mouth. But, the question my friend, is do you know Him like that? Do you know how much He loves you? Do you know that He wants good things for you? Do you understand that He wants to walk you through the fire unharmed? He wants to help you slay the giants before you? Won’t you trust in Him today?

If you don’t know Him like that, then I pray that you get to before it’s too late.

Have a great day!