Action or Words?

It was Jean-Paul Sartre who reminded us, "Commitment is an act, not a word." God reminds us, "Take delight in the Lord, and he will give you your heart’s desires. Commit everything you do to the Lord. Trust him, and he will help you. He will make your innocence radiate like the dawn, and the justice of your cause will shine like the noonday sun." (Psalm 37:4-6) While we all want to say we are 'committed' to following Jesus with all our heart, we might just find ourselves with an occasional 'action' that reveals something totally different. 

Commit everything you do to the Lord. Does that mean that today's laundry and yardwork should be committed to him? It does indeed. God's desire is to be part of your everyday life, not just your Sunday morning life. He wants to be there, whispering little tidbits of truth in your ear while you fold the clothes, weed the garden, or wash the car. When we 'limit' God to Sunday mornings, our actions are sure to be somewhere 'below' the plan God has for our days.

Trust him and he will help you. There is much wisdom in trusting someone else with the stuff we cannot handle on our own. I take my car to the mechanic because anything other than minor maintenance of fluid levels is way out of my wheelhouse now that everything is so computerized. I bring an air conditioning maintenance man over to tune up the AC. I use an arborist to do a good trimming of my trees. Why? They have the expertise. When we allow God to handle the things in our lives that are out of our wheelhouse, we are going to see better outcomes!

Commitment involves trust - one cannot commit to someone or something they have no faith in, can they? We travel the highway because we know someone has laid out the path for us, allowing us to get from one destination to another. We purchase the roast at the meat counter, knowing the butcher knew exactly how to cut that roast from the entire cow. We have 'faith' in some of the simplest of things, but we struggle to allow God to take control of our daily, everyday lives. Maybe it is time to 'act out' our faith a bit and see just how trusting God to have control can make a difference beyond our imagining. Just sayin!

Peace Keepers and Peace Bringers

For the grace of God has been revealed, bringing salvation to all people. And we are instructed to turn from godless living and sinful pleasures. We should live in this evil world with wisdom, righteousness, and devotion to God, while we look forward with hope to that wonderful day when the glory of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ, will be revealed. He gave his life to free us from every kind of sin, to cleanse us, and to make us his very own people, totally committed to doing good deeds. (Titus 2:11-14)

Grace revealed - in each of his children - so salvation can come to all people. How do we reveal the true magnitude of his grace to others? It is revealed primarily in the choices we make and the actions those choices lead us to do. Sinful pleasures seem to matter less and less to one who has been touched by the grace of God, leaving a transformed life for those around us to see. 

God sent his Son - so he could give his life to free us from everything that kept us from God's presence. Isn't it a silly thing to reject such a magnificent gift? That gift is one that 'keeps on giving', as the saying goes. Grace upon grace, until one day we find our choices reflect we are totally committed to doing good. Too many of us believe the transition from 'sinner' to 'holy one' is kind of a long shot. It is like we don't believe the grace that saved us from sin could be the same grace that brings us into transformed lives.

Grace is good, but there are some actions required of us if we are to find ourselves living as Christ intends. We must turn from godless living. In other words, we don't listen to the world's wisdom, but pay close attention to the wisdom given by God through his Word and wise teaching. We stop looking for some way to 'be well' and we start living well! We find that we don't resist the movement of God in our lives as much when we make the decision to turn away and turn toward. 

What does a transformed life accomplish? Greater and greater things because of the power of God at work within us. What can a grace-filled life bring into relationships? Much love, goodness, and even forgiveness. Some of the greatest work God does in transforming our lives is in redeeming lost relationships. People totally committed to Christ are 'peace-keepers' and 'peace-bringers'. That means we might just find ourselves as instruments of his grace more and more the closer we get to him. Just sayin!