Excuse me, but your purpose is showing. That’s right. The way one lives reveals the real reason for living. Actions really do speak louder than words.
RECAP: There is no point pleading with God for help when we have
ignored the instructions. If it is any
consolation to us, even a man like Moses got into trouble in this way:
RESUME: When the Israelites were camped at the Red /
Reed sea shore with the Egyptian army closing in behind them, Moses began
praying to God and explaining their difficult situation to him. God's terse response was “Moses why do you
cry out to me? Tell the children of
Israel to march on.” God had already told
Moses what the Israelites were to do — they were to march into the sea. All they had to do now was obey the order and
when, eventually, they stopped complaining (remember, we spoke on the whining
children last week) to God about what an unpleasant order it was and did as
they had been told they found that actually God did know what he was doing
after all because the waters parted and they walked through on dry ground.
Joshua also found himself in this situation at
an early stage in his leadership: In Joshua
chapter one, God promises the land over the Jordan to Joshua but instructs him
“Only be strong and very courageous, that you will be careful to act according
to all the law that Moses my servant instructed you. Do not deviate from it, to the right or to
the left that you may prosper wherever you go.
This book of the law shall not depart from your mouth; and you shall
meditate upon it day and night, that you may be careful to act according to all
that is written therein; for then you shall have good success in your ways, and
then you shall prosper. ...”
When Joshua later complains to God (Joshua
7:6-13) that things are not going well, the reply he receives is rather terse:
“Stand-up! What are you doing down on
your face?” The implication is that if
Joshua had believed what God had said (Joshua 1:6-8, as shown above) then he
should already know why things are now going so badly.
Jesus has promised to be with us always until
the end of the age so we have nothing to fear from obedience. The demands of Jesus may seem severe but,
because they are backed by the promises of God, they are risk free. We are told not to store-up treasure on
earth, we are told to give to the poor, we are told to do dozens of things that
most of us somehow never quite get around to doing. Now why is this? Why is it that we seem to think that the
commands do not apply to us?
When we follow the simple commands that have
already been given to us we will find that many of the situations that we
wanted God's advice about will have ceased to exist. In other cases, we will find that once we are
free from the choking weeds of worldly worries we will find that it is much
easier to see clearly what the real priorities are.
“Therefore everyone who hears these words of
mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the
rock. ... But everyone who hears these words of mine
and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house
on sand. ...” Matthew 7:26 NIV.
And James found it necessary to write: “Do not
merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says.”
Acting Wisely and Avoiding Procrastination.
There is a time for dedicated prayer and there
is a time for decisions and action. If
we want to know which “door” we should go through we could try opening some of
them and seeing what is on the other side.
In some cases, it will be obvious that we should not enter. In other cases, it will be obvious that the
room contains work that we could usefully be getting on with. For the remaining cases where we feel truly
unable to make a sensible, fully informed decision we could either find
something else to do while we put the question back to God or we could make a
decision anyway and see where it leads us.
Any decision — even a bad decision — is far superior to procrastination
which is never productive. “If any of
you lacks wisdom, he should ask of God, who gives generously to all without
finding fault, and it will be given to him.
But when he asks, he must believe and not doubt, because he who doubts
is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. That man should not think he will receive
anything from the Lord; he is a double-minded man, unstable in all he does.” James 1:5-8.
Attention to James' words apply to requests for wisdom and it is wisdom
that “will be given him”; there is nothing to indicate that James' words may be
applied to requests for anything else…..to be cont’d
In Christ,
Playwright
Janet Irene Thomas
Founder/CEO
Bible
Stories Theatre of
Fine
& Performing Arts
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