Why Do You Call Me Lord?

 And why do you call Me, "Lord, Lord," and do not do what I say? [Luke 6:46] NAS

The word lord can also be translated as master and owner. Jesus said, why do you call me Master and owner and do not do I what I say? That stings a little. If we really take an inventory of our spiritual vitality, we may discover several areas where we are not obeying the Lord. 

We don't have to look far. 

          And He said to him, “ ‘YOU SHALL LOVE THE LORD YOUR GOD WITH ALL YOUR HEART, AND WITH ALL YOUR SOUL, AND WITH ALL YOUR MIND. New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update (La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation, 1995), Mt 22:37.

Can we really say that we love God with all of our being? Are there people or things in our lives we love more than the Lord. This saying was in response to the question asked of Jesus as to which was the greatest command. In other words, which of the commandments is foremost, the chiefly important. Simple. Love God first and most. Are we doing that? Do we love God at such a depth that we do not have capacity to love Him anymore than we already do? 

I know I love God. Do I have the capacity to love Him even more? I believe I do. There are still untapped places in my mind where other things have taken root. There are places in my heart that have been closed off to Him. There are passions in my life that try to compete for His affection. I know I have not have always given Him my best effort in devotions and in service. Sometimes I am lazy. This verse points out areas in my life where I am not doing what Jesus says. 

What about...

Luke 6:41–42 (NASB95)

          41      “Why do you look at the speck that is in your brother’s eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye? 

          42      “Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Brother, let me take out the speck that is in your eye,’ when you yourself do not see the log that is in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take out the speck that is in your brother’s eye.

It is easy for me to criticize others. To hold them to a high standard. To scrutinize their lives while ignoring areas in my own life. The person that I have the biggest problem with on a day-to-day basis is the guy I see when I look in the mirror. That person gives me the most trouble. I can be impatient, harsh, unkind, abrasive, foolish, driven, and did I mention impatient. I can be overly competitive, quick to anger, filled with doubts, a person of small faith, keep account of wrongs done to me, and more. 

What business do I have to scrutinize someone else's life when my life is not in order. It is easy to nitpick others while giving grace to ourselves. We should meticulously pick our lives apart uncovering and uprooting sin instead of getting caught up in pointing out the faults in others. 

We have only looked at two passages and our failures doing what Jesus says is evident. Need I go further? We get the point. We are not nearly as spiritual as we think we are. Each of us has blind spots that we are unaware of or unwilling to acknowledge. 

I could point out pride. God is opposed to the proud. [James 4:6] I am a proud man. That means God has often opposed me to break me. That has not been a pleasant path. The school of brokenness is one in which I have advanced knowledge. My stubborn pride has hurt me more than once. From time to time, it still surfaces. Like trying to argue when someone points out a wrong, I have done. There are times when I do not humble myself to Brenda or my sons and tell them I was wrong. The conviction of the Holy Spirit can work heavily to bring me to repentance in such cases. Many times, I have returned to them with tail tucked between my legs asking for forgiveness. I bet I am not the only one who deals with pride. 

Here is the point. Most of us are not as high and spiritual as we may appear to be publicly. Do we sit before the Lord with open Bible and let Him do precision surgery on our hearts and attitudes? We need to do this on a regular basis if we call Jesus Lord and Master. The proof will be if we do what He says.