WHY DO YOU CALL JESUS LORD?

By Charles N. Spence, Jr.

Luke 6:46 is a record of one of the most probing questions uttered from the mouth of Jesus, “Why do you call Me ‘Lord, Lord,’ and do not the things which I say?” Dear reader, so that you may appreciate the force of Jesus' question, search deep within your heart and see if all that you do, think, say and practice religiously are what Jesus says for you to do. Now, answer Jesus' question honestly. If your answer is yes, then how do you know that you are doing all that Jesus says? Jesus says in the following verse, “Whoever comes to me and hears my sayings and does them, I will show you whom he is like” (verse 47). One cannot do what Jesus says unless he has first gone to Jesus to find out what He has said.

Dear reader, you need to think soberly about why you do the things you do. One very important question you must consider is why do you call Jesus Lord? He wants to know. Jesus considers the measure of His lordship in the lives of those who are His to be that of active service and not that of lip service. Jesus said on another occasion, “These people draw near to Me with their mouth and honor Me with their lips, but their heart is far from Me. And in vain they worship Me, teaching as doctrines the commandments of men” (Matt. 15:8-9). Here Jesus condemns those who do what men say in matters of religious service rather than what He says. Do you find yourself following the traditions of your family, the words of your favorite preacher or the laws and by-laws of your church? If the answer to this question is yes, then why do you call Jesus Lord?

As mentioned previously, you cannot DO what Jesus says unless you KNOW what He says. There are people who do not care what Jesus says, yet they want Jesus to be the Lord of their lives. They don't care what Jesus says because they are not willing to commit themselves to study His word. Again, Jesus said, “Whoever comes to me and hears My sayings and does them . . .” Has there ever been a time when, after you have been confronted with the plain truth of Scripture, you went to your "Pastor" to get his take on it? Well, Jesus said, "whoever comes to Me . . .” You must go to Jesus' words to find out His will is for your life. Jesus said, “He who rejects me, and does not receive my words, has that which judges him—the word that I have spoken will judge him in the last day” (John 12:48). Have you ever allowed the word of your "Pastor" to take precedence over the word of Jesus? If the answer to this question is yes, then why do you call Jesus Lord?

Why is going to Jesus, hearing and doing his word so important? After many of Jesus' disciples rejected Him and His word, Peter responded to Jesus' question, “Do you also want to go away?” by saying, “Lord to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life” (John 6:67,68). In that same context Jesus had said, “The words that I speak to you are spirit, and they are life” (John 6:63). If we truly want life, we better listen to Jesus' words. Another important reason for hearing Jesus' words is that faith is produced through them. “Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God” (Rom. 10:17). Your faith must be consistent with the word of God. You must do what the Bible says, if you want to have a life in heaven with God. Jesus said, “Not everyone who says to me ‘Lord, Lord’ shall enter into the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven” (Matt. 7:21). Have you studied Jesus' word and done His will? If the answer to this question is no, then why do you call Jesus Lord?

You can make Jesus the Lord of your life by studying His word and submitting to those things which He would have you to do. Don't sit around wondering why you call Jesus Lord. Know for certain by hearing the, sayings of Jesus and doing them (Matt. 7:24).