Making Jesus the King of Your Heart

Another Christmas is soon to happen in our lives. For some, it will be the final Christmas of our earthly sojourn.  For others, it will be a lonely Christmas, with the death of a loved one this past year fresh in their minds. For many, it will be a joyous event, filled with lots of presents, food, family, and good cheer.

However, the real secret of Christmas is to make Jesus the King of your heart. After all, he didn’t come to earth to promote shopping and good cheer. Rather, He came to earth to destroy the works of the devil (1 John 3:8). A lot of people just don’t get this biblical fact, instead choosing to believe that just “being a good person” is all it will take to get into heaven, along with a firm belief that Jesus is God. That is NOT true. If just paying our taxes on time, being humorous, not offending anyone, and not killing anyone was the norm for getting into heaven, then the Bible would have said that. It does not say that. Those things are secular humanist beliefs to make us all get along together here on Earth. They are NOT the ticket to paradise.

Doing the Will of God

To get to heaven, the Bible is clear that we must do the will of God, to the best of our ability. There is no excuse for not doing this, as it’s one of the reasons we were created by Him in the first place. And while we have to earn a living, have recreation time, and do household chores, those things should NOT be a priority in our lives. Rather, doing the will of God should be. The bible verses below tell us that doing the will of God must be paramount in our lives.

What do you think? A man had two sons; and he went to the first and said, ‘Son, go and work in the vineyard today.’  And he answered, ‘I will not’; but afterward he repented and went. And he went to the second and said the same; and he answered, ‘I go, sir,’ but did not go. Which of the two did the will of his father?” They said, “The first.” Jesus said to them, “Truly, I say to you, the tax collectors and the harlots go into the kingdom of God before you. For John came to you in the way of righteousness, and you did not believe him, but the tax collectors and the harlots believed him; and even when you saw it, you did not afterward repent and believe him (Matthew 21:28-32 ).

 Not every one who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven (Matthew 7:21).

 The world is passing away, and also its lusts; but the one who does the will of God lives forever (1 John 2:17).

not by way of eye service, as men- pleasers, but as slaves of Christ, doing the will of God from the heart (Ephesians 6:6:).

Sins of Omission

Most of us go to confession and confess the sins we committed, but few of us go there to confess sins of omission; that is, things that were expected of us, but that we failed to do. The Bible is explicit on this. We must do the corporal works of mercy to the less fortunate if we are to make Jesus the King of our hearts and attain heaven. This is a very important facet of the will of God.

When the Son of man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit on his glorious throne. Before him will be gathered all the nations, and he will separate them one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats, and he will place the sheep at his right hand, but the goats at the left.Then the King will say to those at his right hand, ‘Come, O blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world; for I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, 36 I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me.’ Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see thee hungry and feed thee, or thirsty and give thee drink? And when did we see thee a stranger and welcome thee, or naked and clothe thee? And when did we see thee sick or in prison and visit thee?’ And the King will answer them, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brethren, you did it to me.’ Then he will say to those at his left hand, ‘Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels; for I was hungry and you gave me no food, I was thirsty and you gave me no drink, I was a stranger and you did not welcome me, naked and you did not clothe me, sick and in prison and you did not visit me.’ Then they also will answer, ‘Lord, when did we see thee hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not minister to thee?’ Then he will answer them, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did it not to one of the least of these, you did it not to me.’ And they will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life (Matthew 25: 31-46).

Loving Everyone

Jesus gave us two great commandments, which sum up the original ten (which are still required of us as well). We must love God with our whole heart, soul, and mind, and we MUST love our neighbor as ourselves, with no exceptions.  Love is defined as sacrificing yourself for the good of the others like Jesus did on the cross for us. Love is not sex, it is not an emotion, and it is not easy. We must tell God we love Him every day, and sacrifice our bodies, our time, our money, etc., for Him.  We can do this by praying for others, going to Mass and adoration, honoring His Mother, and doing good works for others in His Name.  This should be a priority every day in our lives.  Because without love, nothing we do matters concerning our salvation. Love (self-sacrificing for others in the name of Jesus) is the ticket to heaven!

 But when the Pharisees heard that he had silenced the Sadducees, they came together. And one of them, a lawyer, asked him a question, to test him. “Teacher, which is the great commandment in the law?” And he said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it, You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments depend all the law and the prophets (Matthew 22: 34).

Love is patient and kind; love is not jealous or boastful; it is not arrogant or rude. Love does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrong, but rejoices in the right. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.Love never ends; as for prophecies, they will pass away; as for tongues, they will cease; as for knowledge, it will pass away. For our knowledge is imperfect and our prophecy is imperfect; but when the perfect comes, the imperfect will pass away. When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child; when I became a man, I gave up childish ways. For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall understand fully, even as I have been fully understood. So faith, hope, love abide, these three; but the greatest of these is love (1 Corinthians 13: 4-13).

Avoiding Sin

Sinning is like spitting in the face of God. Imagine if, after you gave your son a free car and a college education, he came up to you and spit in your face.  You would be outraged at him. Well, that is exactly what we do to God when we sin after He’s given us life, a family, a home, a job, air conditioning, heating, indoor plumbing, friends, etc.  Sin is the worst thing we can do because it offends Jesus, who loves us as much the Father has loved Him (John 15:9). Sin = death.  This is why frequent confession (John 20:21ff) is so important to us because it removes the guilt (penance removes the punishment due to sin).

And if your hand or your foot causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it from you; it is better for you to enter life maimed or lame than with two hands or two feet to be thrown into the eternal fire (Matthew 18:8).

He who commits sin is of the devil; for the devil has sinned from the beginning. The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the works of the devil (1 John 3:8).

Leading a Sacramental Life

One of the ways we can beat the devil and please God is to lead a sacramental life, with frequent confession, and frequent mass attendance. The sacraments are conduits of God’s grace (a share of divinity). Grace from heaven, when received with sorrow for our sins and humility, gradually overcomes our sinful human nature and prepares us for heaven. Think of frequent reception of the sacraments as akin to washing a very dirty shirt over and over again. Eventually, the shirt will lose its stains and become pure and clean. That is what happens to our souls when we receive the sacraments over and over again. Over time, we can become pure and holy and overcome satan’s temptations in our lives.

But we believe that we shall be saved through the grace of the Lord Jesus, just as they will (Acts 15:11).

even when we were dead through our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved) (Ephesians 2:5:).

A Prayer for You

Oh Lord, please grant me the graces necessary to love everyone like you love them, and to forgive everyone as you do. Please grant me the gifts of purity and humility, through the holy intercession of the Immaculate Heart of Mary.  Thank you for everything. Amen