We too can go forth like Naaman, questioning the story God wants to write. Thinking we know better or even worse thinking the alternate plot is really what God wants. This is not just a serious concern for the average Christian but for those in leadership and those that speak for God in the faith. The words of Jesus:
"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!' Matthew 7: 21-23 (NIV)
Merely saying "Lord, Lord" is equivalent to the platitudes worth ashes from the story of Job. A pious look or a sincere sounding prayer is not enough. Lying prostrate before the Lord is only relevant to Him if your life is lying prostrate before Him as well. Integrity is when your words line up with your actions. Sometimes Christians are fond of saying, "well God knows my heart." Yes He does and that should frighten us all. There is no solace found in the human heart:
"The human heart is the most deceitful of all things, and desperately wicked. Who really knows how bad it is? Jeremiah 17: 9 (NLT)
The truly frightening thing is we can convince ourselves that we do know our heart and that somehow it is not wicked and deceitful. Even worse, we can convince ourselves that God is somehow approving of our attempts to rewrite our part in His story. We can appear solemn and devout; religious and virtuous; all the while not even seeing the fruit we are producing. Excusing it all away as somehow being the story God is writing. In the Old Testament people would rend their garments as a show of extreme sorrow or pain. Jacob rent his garments when he thought Joseph had died and David rent his when he discovered that King Saul had died. But God knows when the outward is for show:
Rend your heart and not your garments. Return to the LORD your God, for he is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and abounding in love, and he relents from sending calamity. Joel 2: 13 (NIV)
God is not interested in lip service. The verses from Matthew 7 should serve as a frightening reminder of how serious we should be about the work God has called us to. Just thinking that people will believe they are serving God right up until the time they meet Him face to face only to discover He never knew them makes these some of the most sobering verses we can ever read. God is not secretive beloved. He has told us exactly what we need to do in order to allow Him to write our portion of His story.
He has shown you, O mortal, what is good. And what does the LORD require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God. Micah 6:8 (NIV)
