I must admit...

That sometimes the deep fear that strikes my heart is that one day I'll come before God and He'll say:

"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 I will declare to them, 'I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.'"
- Matthew 7:23 (ESV)

I really want to be known by Jesus, and I really want to know Him.

I always ask myself these questions:

Why is the gospel worth anything to people? Why is it worth anything to me?

I want some tangible, material answer. "People will be healed from all diseases," "the world will be restored," "they will feel at peace," "never worry again..." But I find myself being fooled again. How are any of those things different from the prosperity gospel? Though it may not be money, it's still some form of worldly prosperity.

This article from the Desiring God Blog (The Costume Kingdom) struck me hard today. Because while I've been searching for tangible reasons for people as to why the gospel is important, I've been forgetting the real reason why the gospel is important.

God is worthy of all praise, and we are made to worship Him. We can't do that when we're caught up in ourselves and in the things of this world that we hope will satisfy us; we are sinful. The gap is wide, and the story is all wrong. God sent us His Son Jesus to die for us, that we might no longer be dragged down by our sin, but that we might be forgiven and loved by God, that we might be able to live in His story, and to do what we were meant to do - now and forevermore.