As I was getting ready for the day, I couldn't help but think about how many of us who claim we follow Jesus don't look much like Him. Many who call themselves Christians disagree with the Bible, which Jesus followed and affirmed, some justify their actions, as opposed to being justified by Grace through Faith, and still others attempt to earn their "spot" in heaven, as it were, by demonstrating how righteous they can be. None of these things are, at all, representative of Jesus. We are saved by Christ alone. It is by His actions, by His work, by His death, burial and resurrection, by His name we are saved. He is God and deserves our utmost obedience and worship.
If you want to know if you're following Christ or not, are you doing what He said? Are you following His word? Followers of Jesus don't merely read and study the Bible, they seek to work it out in each part of their lives, guided by the Holy Spirit, in honor of the Father. We can't treat Jesus like a symbol: He's higher and far above any symbol we could imagine. He's the King, and He deserves all loyalty, honor, praise, and obedience. There is no greater act of love we could show Him than by obeying Him. Matthew 7:15-28 “Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing but inwardly are ravenous wolves. You will recognize them by their fruits. Are grapes gathered from thornbushes, or figs from thistles? So, every healthy tree bears good fruit, but the diseased tree bears bad fruit. A healthy tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a diseased tree bear good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. Thus you will recognize them by their fruits.
“Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’ And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.’
“Everyone then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock. And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, but it did not fall, because it had been founded on the rock. And everyone who hears these words of mine and does not do them will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell, and great was the fall of it.”
And when Jesus finished these sayings, the crowds were astonished at his teaching, for he was teaching them as one who had authority, and not as their scribes.
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