If you do the right thing for the wrong reason, is it still right?

"Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only those who do 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

There are a lot of people that "do the right thing." People who volunteer their time, donate their money and are kind to people. Some of those people even attend church. This may sound odd, but all of those things can be done out of selfish ambition. There are many people that donate time and money to feel good about themselves or for notoriety instead of being an obedient servant for God. There are many people who go to church for the community or even the entertainment that they get there and they take Jesus out of church.

The scary thing in Matthew 7:21-23 is that there were these people who did all the right things and at the end, they were expecting to get into heaven. And Jesus' answer to this was that He never knew them. You can do all the right things, but if you take Jesus out of it, then ultimately you're doing it for yourself. The key here is you either know Jesus or you don't. You may know who Jesus is, but do you know Him personally? Is He actively working in your life? If you don't see Jesus working, He may not be there.

What a waste to go through life in attempts to become a "good person" just to find Jesus telling you, "I don't know you, go away!" I pray that our quest is to hear "Well done my good and faithful servant." From a worldly view, both can look the same. However there is a huge difference that is imperative: Jesus.