I Never Knew You

Matthew 7:21-23 (ESV) - "Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. On that day many will say to me, 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?' And then will I declare to them, 'I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness."

Disclaimer: I have no original thought unto myself. All the witticisms, bright ideas, or revolutionary concepts that I post on here are only products of books I read, lectures I hear, or conversations that I have the privileged to take part in. This revelation, without exception, is the product of a in depth conversation I had with a good friend just recently.

So me and my dear friend were discussing this passage just the other day. I've always had a very uneasy feeling about this passage. Maybe I'm the only one, but when I've read this passage before and it says "depart from me; I never knew you", I always thought that was just a harsh way of God telling us to be gone. I thought in fewer words that God was simply telling us "You didn't do what you were suppose to, I'm forgetting ever knowing you". Now I might have had a very staunch interpretation of this, but I think I was wrong.

Let me explain. I think I missed the point completely. I mean I think I completely and utterly missed the entire meaning of the passage. This passage has nothing to do with works. Obviously. The first part of the passage talks about doing all sorts of works in the name of Christ, but it doesn't mean anything. I think the emphasis of the entire passage lays in the words "I never knew you". See, these people that did all these great works in the name of Christ, they never knew Him. They never sought to have a personal relationship with Him. It was never their intention to grow closer to God and get to know Him intimately. God wasn't telling them to depart from Him because they weren't doing the right things, works had nothing to do with it, it was because they never sought a relationship with Him at all.

It is only through our relationship with Jesus Christ that we accomplish anything for His Kingdom. Let us start getting to know Christ in a deeper relationship with Him.