But for those who brazenly violate the Lord’s will, whether native-born Israelites or foreigners, have blasphemed the Lord, and they must be cut off from the community. Since they have treated the Lord’s word with contempt and deliberately disobeyed his command, they must be completely cut off and suffer the punishment for their guilt. – Numbers 15: 30-31

It’s one thing to make mistakes. We all make mistakes.

But it’s another thing entirely when we behave in a manner that is completely inconsistent with God’s teachings.

After a certain point, we can’t justify our actions as “mistakes.”

They become choices; thoroughly planned, unapologetic decisions to do wrong.

For instance, let’s say you were raised in the church.

And for years you went to weekly Bible studies, participated in prayer groups, and took on leadership roles.

You watched sermons in your free time. You prayed for the sick and shut-in. And you never spoke negatively about a soul.

But!

In secret, you’d been embezzling money from your company for years.

There’s no way you can say that you didn’t know what you were doing was wrong.

Truth is: You felt comfortable doing that because you had no real fear of God and no true connection to Christ the entire time.

Jesus addresses people like this in Matthew 7:21-23:

Not everyone who calls out to me, ‘Lord! Lord!’ will enter the Kingdom of Heaven. Only those who actually do the will of my Father in heaven will enter. On judgment day many will say to me, ‘Lord! Lord! We prophesied in your name and cast out demons in your name and performed many miracles in your name.’ But I will reply, ‘I never knew you. Get away from me, you who break God’s laws.’

It’s scary and unfortunate to know that there are many people shouting “Jesus! Jesus!” at the top of their lungs in church every Sunday..

When God is going to spit them out on their day of judgment…

Everyday, it’s my hope and prayer that the Holy Spirit keeps me in right alignment with God’s Word and will so I won’t be rejected in this way.

Take a moment today to ask God to purify you from the inside out so that when you meet Him face to face, He’ll smile and tell you:

“Well done, my good and faithful servant!”

Be blessed,

Alexia