Why would you call Me Lord but not do what I ask?

Luke 6:46

Why do you call me ‘Lord, Lord,’ and not do what I tell you?

Peter Says “No Lord”

When Jesus was washing the disciples feet to leave them an example for how they are to serve one another, He came to Peter, and Peter said, “No, Lord, You shall never wash my feet” (John 13:8). Peter was acknowledging Him as Lord but not doing what He asked. Then after Jesus told Him that He must do this, Peter again basically said, “No, Lord, not just my feet, but my hands and head as well” (John 13:9). So twice in one conversation Peter tells Jesus, who he claims to be “Lord,” no! How can this be? If He is Peter’s Lord and Peter tells Him no, then is he really Peter’s Lord? I am not saying that Peter was not saved, but to tell Jesus no is to not be making Him the Lord of your life.

Again, No, Lord!

Just before Jesus went to Calvary to die for the sins of the world, Peter again told Jesus no. Jesus had just told the disciples that He was going to be delivered into the hands of the elders, the chief priests, and teachers of the law and that He must be killed, only to be raised to life again (Matt. 16:21), but then Peter took Jesus aside and told his Lord, “Never, Lord! This shall never happen to you” (Matt. 16:22)! Read that again. Peter just said no to He whom he calls Lord. Can we say no to the Lord and still rightly call Him Lord? To acknowledge Jesus as Lord is to do what He says and never say “no” to Him. If we say no to the Lord, is He really the Lord of our lives? Jesus rebuked Peter for being Satan’s agent when Peter told Jesus no because he was thinking only in humanly terms and not on the things of God (Matt. 16:23).

Lord of All or Not Lord at All

I have heard this phrase before: If He is not Lord of all, then He is not Lord at all. There is truth to that because Jesus says that the person who hears their Lord’s words but doesn’t obey them is like someone who is building their house with no foundation, and when the overflowing streams of life come, it is simply swept away (Luke 6:49). But the one who hears and does what his master says builds his or her house on a rock-solid foundation, and when the floods come, it remains (Luke 6:47-48). Floods are symbolic of God’s judgment, so whoever hears and does what God says will not be swept away in judgment when it comes (Rev. 20:12-15), and it is coming. I have a friend who says he was baptized many years ago, but his lifestyle is nothing like a subject of the Lord, Jesus Christ. He uses God’s name in profanity, he gets drunk, he watches R- and X-rated movies, and his lifestyle is not bearing godly fruit, but fruit of the Devil (John 15). I have tried warning him many times that he can say “Lord, Lord” all he wants. But if he isn’t obeying what the Lord says, is he really his Lord? I asked him to read Matthew 7:21-23 where Jesus warns that not everyone that says to Him “Lord, Lord” is going to be saved.

A Closing Prayer

Oh Righteous Father, please help me to be more obedient and to never say no to my Lord when He commands me to do or say something. I do not want to be lord of my own life but want to have Jesus as my Lord and do what He tells me to prove that, indeed, He is my Lord, and in His name I pray.

Amen