Jump Start # 318

Luke 6:46 “And why do you call me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ and do not do what I say?”

  Jesus is defining discipleship in this passage. Immediately following our verse today is the parable of the wise man and the foolish man. The wise man heard the words of Jesus and did them. He obeyed. He applied. He changed. Jesus likens that man to one who build his house upon a foundation of rock. Storms came. The house stood. The parable includes others, those who have heard Jesus, but did not obey. They went on their own way, doing things as they thought they should be. They built their lives, or houses, not upon the solid foundation of Jesus. Storms came. They collapsed.

  Our verse today leads into that parable. Declaring Jesus the Lord does little if he is not the Lord of your heart and of your life. Why call Jesus the Lord, which means the ruler, the one in authority, the rightful king and yet disobey Him? The person who did this did not have his talk and walk matching up. He said one thing and did something else.

  The Pharisees were masters of this. Jesus shows us this in Matthew 23. They would be like a white tomb on the outside but inside were rotten and corrupt. They were like a cup that was clean on the outside, but the inside had never been washed. To others, they looked good, but really, and actually it was just a show.  What a person is on the inside is what comes out. Inside they were not obedient, godly or righteous. On the inside they were selfish, worldly and ungodly.

  Declaring Jesus as Lord can be done in many ways. Some do it by attending church services. They sing. They give. They carry a Bible. But racing their hearts and minds are worldly, corrupt and selfish ideas. That’s not right.

  Jesus is the Lord of Heaven and Earth. He reigns. He wants to reign in the most important place and that is your heart. To do that you must let Him in. You do that by believing Him and obeying Him. It is easier to say, Lord, Lord, than it is to crown Jesus the Lord of your heart. Obeying Jesus means His will comes before your will. It means His ways trump your ways. It means we no longer do what ever we want, we must do what Jesus wants. There will be times when self and the Lord are going opposite directions. Self doesn’t feel like it or want to, but making Jesus my Lord means I must do what Jesus wants. There may be times I don’t feel like going to church services, but I will, because Jesus is my Lord. There may be times that I don’t feel like being a servant, but I will because Jesus is my Lord. Being compassionate? Is this what Jesus wants? Then yes. Being dependable? Is that what Jesus wants? Then yes. Being faithful, accountable, useful, helpful, righteous? Does Jesus want those things? Then the answer is yes. Yes!

  A couple of pages later in Luke Jesus declares that if anyone wants to follow Him, they must first deny themselves. This is where it starts. Until that is done, Jesus will never be Lord. A person may like Jesus. A person may sing to Jesus. But Jesus can never share your heart with yourself. You have to move out. Paul understood this. He said, “It is no longer I who lives, but Christ lives in me.” What happened? Paul moved out. Jesus took possession of his heart. Paul obeyed Jesus. Paul did what Jesus wanted. Wasn’t easy. For Paul, it often meant being chased and persecuted. Making Jesus Lord isn’t always the easy path. But it is the right path. It is the path that leads to Heaven.

  Being a disciple of Jesus is more than putting a bumper sticker on your car or a fish symbol. It is more than carrying a Bible. It is making Jesus the Lord of your heart by doing what He wants you to do. It will change you forever. It will affect every relationship you have. It will be noticed by others. Most importantly, it is what pleases God.

  Roger