IS “DOING THE WILL OF THE FATHER” REALLY THAT IMPORTANT FOR ME?

SCRIPTURE:
“Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of 
heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. 
Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your 
name and in your name drive out demons and in your name perform many 
miracles?’ Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, 
you evildoers!’ (Matthew 7:21-23)

MEDITATION:
Have you ever played a game of some kind and were surprised 
to find the rules were different than what you expected?
You thought you were doing everything right, 
but found out that due to a rule violation, you lost the game.
Even though you pleaded a misunderstanding of the rule(s), 
you still lost the game.

Of course it was only one game and in the scheme of things, 
not really that important.
However, what if you get to the judgment day for eternity and discover 
that due to your lack of following God’s rules, you were told, 
“I never knew you. Away from me...”?
You might be able to appeal the rules of a game, 
but there is no appeal process at the judgment.
The loss of a game is not that important, 
but obviously where we spend eternity is extremely important.
In His Word, He has given us His rules so we will know what is expected.

There are two important issues to notice in the scriptures above.
For one thing, Jesus is telling us 
that we cannot enter heaven based on our own rules and ideas.
Apparently he was addressing those who felt that 
as long as they are doing things for the church, 
they would qualify for heaven.

This brings up the second issue 
which is for those doing things for the church, and everyone else.
He bluntly says that those who ‘say’ they ‘know the Lord’ 
could miss out on heaven.
How could that happen?
Jesus says that saying His name is not enough; 
only those who ‘obey the will of His Father’ will qualify for heaven.

What does that mean to us?
We could look at many of the “wills of the Father” 
but let's focus on just two.
First of all, 
the scriptures tell us plainly to worship with other believers.
And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good 
deeds, not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, 
but encouraging one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching.
(Hebrews 10:24-25)

That means we should be attending a place of worship on a regular basis.
However the statistics from a few years ago indicate that only 17% 
of those who claim to ‘know the Lord’ are attending church regularly.
So, 83% are not ‘doing the will of the Father’ 
and according to Jesus, this disqualifies them for heaven.

Secondly, the scriptures tell us 
that the ‘will of the Father’ is for everyone to tithe.
Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my 
house. Test me in this,” says the Lord Almighty, “and see if I will not 
throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that 
there will not be room enough to store it. (Malachi 3:10)

We are told to bring the “whole tithe” and not just a portion of it.
We are also told to bring it “into the storehouse” (which is the church).
However there are two recent surveys: 
one says that only 9% of Christians tithe, 
and the other one says it is only 3%.
This means that either 91% or 97% are NOT ‘doing the will of the Father’.

It also means that a huge percentage are not enjoying the Lord's "pouring 
out of so much blessing that there will not be room enough to store it".
We need to realize 
that His blessings come in many ways other than financially.
With so few ‘doing the will of the Father’ by tithing, 
it's easy to understand why, on the average, 17 of God’s houses (churches) 
are closing every Sunday.

God has given us these two areas as opportunities for expressing our faith.
We can see from these two examples that an alarming number of people 
are not ‘doing the will of the Father’ 
and yet believe they will qualify for heaven.
Maybe they will qualify, and it is not for anyone other than God to say for 
sure, but if we believe the scriptures as truth, it seems that they will not.

One of the greatest needs in the church today is for every Christian 
to become enthusiastic about his faith in Jesus Christ. 
This is the essence of enjoying spiritual experiences and blessings. 
The apostles had been with Christ, and as a result, 
they could not help but testify to all they had seen and heard.

Every Christian should become an ambassador of Christ 
and show by example what ‘doing the will of the Father’ looks like.
We need to capture the ‘magnificent obsession’ of these early Christians.
We need to go forth as men and women filled with the Spirit of God!
It is clear that God wants committed, obey-at-all-costs followers.

ACTION:
At times I have thought, “What if every human being went to heaven?”
According to God's Word and the statistics, 
that doesn't seem remotely possible.
When we refuse to ‘meet together’, 
we are saying that we are willfully refusing to obey the Father.
When we refuse to tithe, we are saying that we don’t trust God 
and do not believe He really means we should be tithing.
These are dangerous decisions for anyone to make.

Where are you in ‘doing the will of the Father’?
In just these two areas, what percentage do you fall into?
Are you in the very small percentage of those in obedience, or are you part
of the large percentage who have chosen not to ‘do the will of the Father’?

Pray,
“Heavenly Father, my strongest desire is to spend eternity with You. Help 
me to be honest with myself and admit there are areas where I am being 
disobedient. I know that I will make mistakes at times, but show me the 
areas (such as worshipping with others and tithing), where I am defiantly 
disobeying You. Forgive me for my defiance and disobedience in the past 
and help me to take Your will more seriously in the future.”