Imagine a wife who goes out of town for the weekend to help a sick friend, her ailing parents, or a daughter who just had a baby, and leaves her husband with a Honey Do List.

The husband looks at the list but isn’t excited about completing any of the items, so he adds things he would like to do—go fishing, watch the big game, and take a nap in the recliner—and proceeds to complete and check off those items.

When the weekend comes to a close, the wife texts her husband letting him know she is on her way home. In that text, she asks if he got a chance to do anything on the list. He texts back confirming that he completed three items on the list (his added items).

The wife is pleased, but as she pulls into the driveway, she realizes the lawn isn’t mowed, the garbage bins aren’t out on the street, and the fence isn’t painted. She begins to wonder what her husband did. Maybe he changed the furnace filter or the batteries in the smoke detectors. Perhaps he painted the bathroom ceiling.

When she enters the house, she finds her husband snoring in the recliner. When she checks the list, she finds that nothing she asked him to complete is done.

Is that wife going to be happy? I tell you, that husband will get plenty of time to sleep in the recliner.

Some accept Jesus as their Savior—get their free ticket to Heaven, their spiritual fire insurance—and continue to live their lives according to their selfish desires. Like the husband in the illustration who had a wife for what she could do for him, they are in this whole Christian thing for what they can get out of it. I presume you don’t fall into that category. Otherwise, you wouldn’t be wasting your time reading my blog. But there is a trap that those who are serious about faith can fall into.

To illustrate that, let’s go back to the couple in my original illustration. Let’s imagine that when the husband realizes the weekend is ticking away, he looks again at the list but decides that none of those things are all that important. He would rather do something more epic to show his wife how much he loves her. So, he buys her flowers, writes her a love letter, and makes her dinner. When the wife returns home and finds nothing done on her list, do you think she is going to interpret her husband’s actions as love or manipulation?

That brings me to the scariest verses in the Bible:

“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.” (Matthew 7:21-23).¹

Now, I don’t want to get into whether these people were doing these amazing things in Jesus’ name or not, but the point is, they thought they were, but Jesus didn’t see it that way. That is why I say these are the scariest verses in the Bible.

Those who are serious about following Christ can get caught up in thinking that the big, out-front things are what impress Jesus the most. However, people in the world are doing amazing things all of the time in their own strength; God isn’t getting the glory, they are. Just because you are doing something amazing and sprinkling a little Jesus on top doesn’t mean you are doing it in Christ or for Him.

It is vitally important to consider the context of a given Scripture. These words of Jesus (the scary verses) are found at the end of the Sermon on the Mount, recorded in Matthew Chapters 5-7. This sermon was shared with those who were serious enough about following Jesus that they climbed a mountain to hear Him speak.

Here we find God’s list. On that list are such items as humility, righteousness, mercy, faith, obedience, love, reconciliation, unity, purity, truthfulness, forgiveness, generosity, praying for your enemies, trusting God, glorifying God, serving God alone, graciousness, sincerity, humility, wisdom, persistence in prayer, and discernment, among others.

Right before the scariest verses in the Bible, Jesus said, “You will recognize [His true Followers] by their fruits.” (Matthew 7:20). Before that, Jesus said, “Let your light shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in Heaven.” (Matthew 5:16).

The reason all those character traits are on Jesus’ list is that they are the proving ground. You cannot do these good deeds or produce this good fruit unless you are in Christ and the Holy Spirit is working in and through you. For God to be glorified by what you do, those things must obviously be done in God’s strength, not yours. It is in faithfulness in the seemingly little things that God is most glorified.

If the husband in my illustration did what was on his wife’s list, do you think she would be upset if he also did the things he wanted to do? No! Likewise, God wants you to enjoy your life, but not at the expense of being who He wants you to be in Christ.

What if the husband in my illustration did everything on his wife’s list and then bought her flowers, wrote her a love letter, and made her dinner? Believe me, she would feel like the most loved woman on the face of the earth. So, do great things for Jesus, but not if you aren’t first doing the seemingly little things in His Power. Don’t get wrapped up in the grandiose and miss His grace.

¹ For more on this, check out my commentary at https://blueturtletrails.com/final-warnings-from-the-sermon-on-the-mount/