Jesus said to his disciples:
“Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’
will enter the Kingdom of heaven,
but only the one who does the will of my Father in heaven.” (Mt 7:21)
When I was growing up, we used to have people of other faiths canvassing our neighborhood trying to “save” us. When we shared that we were Roman Catholics, we were told that we were not assured of going to heaven. In order to be assured, we would have to claim Jesus as our Savior and Lord (and start attending their church).
Even at my young age, I thought there was something wrong with their assertion.
I remember once, when I was in high school, asking them, “So, if I claim Jesus as my Lord and Savior right now, I am assured that I will go to heaven?” They told me I was right. I then asked, “If I claim Jesus as my Lord and Savior right now and decide to go on a killing spree tonight, I will go to heaven?”
They did not know what to say. After all, I would have claimed Jesus as my Lord and Savior so I should be “saved”. However, killing other people? That would be wrong. But, I had claimed Jesus as my Lord and Savior. Hmmm. Something was wrong with this picture and they could not respond.
Jesus reminds us in today’s Gospel: “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the Kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father in heaven.”
We do not “have it made” by claiming to be His followers.
We must do more than claim.
We must live as His faithful followers, embracing His will and doing His works.
Even then, we do not have it made because, ultimately, we will need to rely upon His mercy.
FAITH ACTION: Ask the Lord to help you to do His work today.