Where’s your Reputation

We’ve seen in Isaiah 53 that the Lord Jesus was of no reputation among the people. Even though it appeared that He was popular and loved by the people, when it came to the push everybody deserted Him.

Jesus did, however, have an immaculate reputation somewhere else. “And when Jesus was baptised, immediately he went up from the water, and behold, the heavens were opened to him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and coming to rest on him; and behold, a voice from heaven said, ‘This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased’ (Matthew 3:16, 17)” and where Jesus was glorified on the mountain: “He was still speaking when, behold, a bright cloud overshadowed them, and a voice from the cloud said, ‘This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased; listen to him.’ (Matthew 17:5).”

I’ve been thinking about Jesus’ words in Matthew 7:21-23: “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.'” These are good things He mentioned here. Isn’t that exactly what we as Christians should do? What did Jesus mean by saying this?

Jesus only wanted to impress His Father. He wanted to hear from his Daddy that He did well. All glory belonged to Father God and not to Him. When people called Him good, He was quick to state that only God was good (Luke 18:18, 19). He acknowledged that He could do nothing without His Father (John 5:19, 30).

How about us? What is in your heart? Who do you want to impress?

That’s what Jesus was concerned about when He uttered the words in Matthew 7:21-23 above. It’s the attitude of our hearts that matters. Are we focused on the Lord and what He wants to accomplish, or do we seek a reputation for ourselves to be seen and acknowledged by men? Do we want plenty of people to listen to our message so we can be famous, or so that God’s word can be heard? If we live godly lives, we’re bound not to impress certain people – some will hate and persecute us (2 Timothy 3:12).

When I allowed idols and sin to control me, like I testified in an earlier posting, it didn’t matter how I wanted to impress people, my life went haywire. But when I decided to break away and make the Lord the only one important enough in my life to impress, blessings were poured into my life. God made people impressed about me.

Lord, help us to be of no reputation like Jesus was.

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