Passage Read: Matthew 7-8
Meditation Verses: 7:21-24
Thought
Jesus makes plain here that doing the will of His Father means putting Jesus' teachings into practice. There are those who want to use miracles and prophesying and casting out demons in Jesus' name as a proxy for obedience, but Jesus says that people who do such things yet do not obey His words will be cast into eternal torment. Jesus' name has real power, and if someone should use it and see miracles happen, he should have sense enough to recognize that Jesus is no mere mortal, and he'd better get to know this mighty God! But anyone who is not interested in knowing and doing what Jesus instructs is likewise unknown to Jesus! And he will not be redeemed, no matter what he did in Jesus' name. There is no replacement for simple obedience.
Application
There is no need to wonder what is God's will for me, it's right here in front of me! The teachings of Jesus, which align with the instructions of the Old Testament, and which are further recorded in the rest of the New Testament, these are all I need in order to know the will of God. I just need to do what it teaches! Whether I ever perform a miracle or cast out demons or prophesy in Jesus' name, as long as I'm putting into practice what Jesus has taught, I can be sure that I'm known to Jesus and will be welcomed into His kingdom. Likewise, just because someone does such miracles doesn't mean I should be enamored with him and follow him, not unless he also walks in obedience to Jesus' instructions--that's all that really matters!