the best feeling ever

²¹ “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. ²² 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?’ ²³ Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’
matt 7:21-23
¹ “At that time the kingdom of heaven will be like ten virgins who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom. ² Five of them were foolish and five were wise. ³ The foolish ones took their lamps but did not take any oil with them. ⁴ The wise ones, however, took oil in jars along with their lamps. ⁵ The bridegroom was a long time in coming, and they all became drowsy and fell asleep.
   ⁶ “At midnight the cry rang out: ‘Here’s the bridegroom! Come out to meet him!’
   ⁷ “Then all the virgins woke up and trimmed their lamps. ⁸ The foolish ones said to the wise, ‘Give us some of your oil; our lamps are going out.’
   ⁹ “‘No,’ they replied, ‘there may not be enough for both us and you. Instead, go to those who sell oil and buy some for yourselves.’
   ¹⁰ “But while they were on their way to buy the oil, the bridegroom arrived. The virgins who were ready went in with him to the wedding banquet. And the door was shut.
   ¹¹ “Later the others also came. ‘Lord, Lord,’ they said, ‘open the door for us!’
   ¹² “But he replied, ‘Truly I tell you, I don’t know you.’
   ¹³ “Therefore keep watch, because you do not know the day or the hour.
matt 25:1-13


the worst feeling ever is to finish life as christians thinking we had it right the whole time, only to stand before Christ at the judgment seat and hear God say, "i'm sorry, but I don't know you".
it's quite contradictory that an omniscient God would claim to not know us, the objects of His very own creation, the ones He loves to the point of death on a cross. it's crazy to think that the God of psalm 139, the One who knows when we sit down and when we rise, the One who knows all our thoughts and desires would reject us with such harshness at the judgment seat. (yet He rejects because He knows the heart!)
i realized there's a difference between knowing about an omniscient God versus opening up my heart and asking God to search and know me. there's a difference between knowing about God versus Knowing God. likewise, there's a difference between the way God knows about every single person in the world versus the way he Knows those who He can call His friends. the semantics are subtly different, but the implications are drastically different, as different as heaven is to hell. 
the divine romance begins when one enters into a love relationship with the Person of Jesus. it is journey of eternity, where relationship is above religion, heart above ritual, and a broken and contrite heart is more important than sacrifice. in such times as these, i want to live with a spiritual violence (matt 11:12) and a sense of urgency. i want to live like Jesus was coming back tomorrow. i want to stay awake (matt 24:42), keep watch and pray against temptation (matt 26:41), and love Him with every fiber of my being. i want to sit before Jesus, and lavish Him with worship. like oil upon His feet, like wine for Him to drink. like water from my heart. 
i don't want regret on the day i stand before Him. i'm going to start caring less about how hard i run after Him because intense is my only appropriate response after i've caught a glimpse of just how worthy He is. i know from the depths of my soul that He's more than worth it.
i'm preparing and i look forward to the day i stand before the throne with confidence. i would look at that face filled with kindness, and that familiar gaze...those eyes like flames of fire, head as white as wool, and a voice that sounds like water. He speaks, and His voice is so familiar. 
"well done, Eric, let us enter into eternity together."


that would be the best feeling ever.