We must act upon the word of God

The prophet Isaiah said “You will keep on hearing, and will not understand; And you will keep on seeing, and will not perceive; For the hearts of this people have become insensitive, And with their ears they hardly hear, And they have closed their eyes; Otherwise they might see with their eyes, And hear with their ears, And understand with their heart and return, And I would heal them.”’

His words here were for the children of Israel, but we see them echoed by Paul in the New Testament. I do not believe that these words were placed in the New Testament just for the Jews, but for each and every one of us. There are several who are observing religious ordinances during this time of year as part of their traditions of faith, but this passage from Isaiah and later by Paul teach us a valuable lesson about our lives as followers of Jesus Christ.

We must do more than just hear the words of scripture and by the men and women of God. There must be action in lives. For far too long, Christians have come to churches and heard messages spoken by their respective pastors and leaders only to walk away from those services and forget what they heard and failed to act upon what God is directing them to do. You do not go to church just to hear some good music and a message that is presented well, but you go to be challenged and quickened to act upon the word of God and implement it in your live so you can have impact on all those that are around you.

The book of James mentions this in the first chapter James 1:22-25

22 But prove yourselves doers of the word, and not just hearers who deceive themselves. 23 For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks at his natural face in a mirror; 24 for once he has looked at himself and gone away, he has immediately forgotten what kind of person he was. 25 But one who has looked intently at the perfect law, the law of freedom, and has continued in it, not having become a forgetful hearer but an active doer, this person will be blessed in what he does. We must do more than just hear the word. We MUST act upon it.

Many people are afraid to act upon the word of God and act upon the orations of their pastors. We must fight against inactivity and idleness as followers of Jesus Christ. We are called to be his hands and his feet and even his ambassadors here on the earth. Christians are called to be active in their faith and not to be spectators. The great commission applies to each of us, not just our pastors and those in leadership over us. We cannot forget that we are part of this great community of faith called Christians. Liturgical, Evangelical, Pentecostal, or Reformed it does not matter. We are called to be the accurate representation of Jesus Christ.

Stop going through the motions of faith and live by faith. Take every chance you get to share your faith and help others. Place others above yourself. Don’t forget who you once where and never forget who you are now. You are a child of God. You have been adopted fully into the kingdom of God. You have the message of hope and the message of encouragement. You may very well be the catalyst that brings life change to someone who is struggling. Walk in your anointing and gifting. Do not get tired of doing good. Let the light of Jesus Christ shine through you and bring light into the dark world around you.