Talking is so easy, isn’t it? Find someone with the same interests as you, and you can probably spend a couple of hours talking. And those hours will seem pretty short.
Both of my professions (pastor and schoolteacher) require a lot of talking. I teach classes daily, preach weekly, lead Bible study weekly, and disciple church members and attenders frequently. All of that adds up to one thing: lots of words being spoken.
But I have noticed something about myself: talking is much easier than doing. It is easy to talk about all the things I am going to do. It’s easy to paint beautiful pictures of my future self: my aspirations, goals and desires. It is easy to talk about the things the church I serve has done and desires to do.
But here’s a hard truth: Talking is easy. Doing is hard.
It’s no wonder that James says:
But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves…. So also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead.
James 1:22 and 2:17
It is easy to hear and talk, but at the end of the day, we as Christians must be doers. It is easy to sit down at church or Bible study, and to hear the words of Scripture, to discuss them at Bible study. It is easy to read Christian books, listen to Christian podcasts and music. What’s hard is taking that knowledge gained from Scripture, from Christian books, from Christian audio, and to live your life based on what you have learned.
So here is my challenge to you today: do something. If you have been praying for someone’s salvation, call them up and share the Gospel with them. If you have been struggling with habitual sin, confess it to a trusted friend, and then fight that sin. If you have been wanting to serve others, start reading to children at a local elementary school, start making the coffee on Sunday mornings, start helping out with family in your church. The main thing is to do something!
Our faith is demonstrated and shown by what we do. So what are you doing?
Ancient Words 