Misconceptions...

So I was reading through Matthew, and I came across some verses that caught me off guard. I was reading the sermon on the mount, and Jesus was talking about how good trees will bear good fruit and how bad trees will bear bad fruit. Now that is all pretty logical. A sickly little rotten apple tree is not going to produce beautiful, juicy, green, Granny Smith apples. That is common sense. But then he says in Matthew 7:21 that not everyone who calls him Lord will enter the kingdom of Heaven. As my political sciences professor would say, "Pump the brakes!" I have always thought that in order to get to heaven all you have to do is believe in Jesus and trust him to forgive your sins. From there the Holy Spirit will come into your life and everything is good. This verse says however that you must also "do the will of my father in heaven." Hmmm...this made me dig further...I read on and came to Matthew 10:38. This verse says the same thing, that you must "take up your cross and follow" Jesus. There is obviously a theme forming...There is more to Christianity than just believing...We have to FOLLOW Jesus. Well, ok but what does that look like? We are supposed to live like Jesus. To love our enemies. That means that when someone does something to hurt us we should do something to love on them. What kind of impact do you think it would have if your roommates had stolen some things from you and instead of getting mad, you bought them a pizza and said "I know that you guys stole some of my stuff, but I just wanted to let you know that Jesus loves you. So I bought you guys a pizza." Wow how amazing would that be. That's life changing, and that is exactly what Jesus tells us to do-Matthew 5:38-42 - That is only one aspect of what our lives should look like. That's a lot to live up to, but He promises that in the end, when we get to the kingdom of Heaven all of our struggles will have been worth it.He promises rewards in life as well. In John 10:10 He promises a life "to the full." Not just a good life or even a great life, but life to the full. That means, the absolute best life that you could possibly have. An abundant life...I don't know about you, but I know that I want that life to the full.

Andy

It's David Spade!
aJC