Who Do You Depend On?

  The last few months have been very challenging for me on a spiritual level and I thought it would be good for me to share with you some of the things that have been convicting me. As most of you know, we have been studying The Sermon on the Mount for the last 12 weeks at church. Couple that with my A.B.F. Class on The Chronological Study of the Life of Christ and it's clear to see I have been fairly focused on Jesus' teachings for the last few months—and that is the issue. One cannot spend time with Jesus and his teachings and not be challenged or downright convicted. That is what has been happening to me.

  As I read through the Gospels I am continually trying to figure out which of the people in the narrative I would be: am I Peter, the tax collector, Judas, the rich man, Lazarus, or am I the Pharisee? More often than not I find myself as a Pharisee, and here's why. The main reason why the Pharisees didn't understand Jesus and his Kingdom message was because they were too confident in their ability to obey the Law and the Prophets; their righteousness came through their own strength and ability. In contrast, the Kingdom of God was all about complete dependence upon our Heavenly Father.

  So I making this realization I began to ask myself, "Am I living my life in complete dependence upon my Heavenly Father?" Or am I dependent upon my own abilities to be good, moral and Christian? This is a challenging question that we as Jesus followers need to continually ask ourselves. To help answer this question I looked around the Gospels looking for some type of indicator…some way of knowing if I am living in complete dependence upon God. In Matthew 25:31-46 Jesus gives a very clear description of what Judgment Day will look like. He says:

³¹ "When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his throne in heavenly glory. ³² All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. ³³ He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left." ~ Mt 25:31-33

  Jesus uses a typical shepherding reference. In Jesus' day shepherds would allow the flocks to graze together, but when it was time for shearing there would be a time to separate the sheep from the goats. So his audience connects with this image of separating one type from another. What we learn is that when Jesus returns a second time there will be a time of separating as well; sheep to the right and goats to the left. Next Jesus says:

³⁴ "Then the King will say to those on his right, 'Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. ³⁵ For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, ³⁶ I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.'

³⁷ "Then the righteous will answer him, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? ³⁸ When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? ³⁹ When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?'

⁴⁰ "The King will reply, 'I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.'~ Mt 25:34-40

  What determines whether someone is a sheep or a goat? Like every other judgment scene of the New Testament it is made on the basis of deeds (Mt 16:27; Jn 5:28-30; Rom 2:5-11; 2 Cor 5:10; 1 Peter 1:17; Rev 20:11-15). So what I have learned from this teaching is that what I do reflects my dependence upon God. Here the sheep engaged in loving and serving people, they were dependent upon God to do his work. What is interesting is that they didn't even realize they had served Jesus. These sheep were just doing the work of their Heavenly Father. So the question I need to ask of myself is this: Am I putting myself in situations where I am dependent upon God to do his work in this world?

  This teaching does raise another question: Does this contradict salvation by grace? How can one be saved by grace but judged by works? It is simply this, when we stand before the judgment seat of Christ, the only thing that will really matter is our relationship to Jesus—have we trusted in him? The answer to that question is not in our talk but in our walk. How we live our lives is the surest way to tell what we believe. Our good deeds don't save us. But they clearly demonstrate our primary commitments. They determine how dependent we are upon God.

  It would probably be a great benefit to you to stop for a moment and take inventory of your life. It is so easy to just roll through life and not pay attention to where you are going…we assume way too much! Take inventory of how you are trusting God and relying upon his power to carry out the great work of his Kingdom! You may just discover that you are farther away from your Heavenly Father then you thought. Maybe it's time to come home.