Easter Devotional - Day 21
"You were told that your foolish desires will destroy you and that you must give up your old way of life with all its bad habits. Let the Spirit change your way of thinking and make you into a new person. You were created to be like God, and so you must please him and be truly holy." Ephesians 4:22-24
Knowing and doing are very different things. In education, we speak of teaching as necessarily changing the way one acts. If there is no transformation of action, there is no real understanding. Without the application of knowledge to life, it is only information that may be recalled, but has not yet been accepted and integrated into life. In theology, that is often where we stand, as well.
We have plenty of information about God, about the Bible, about the gospel of Jesus Christ, about the pattern for our lives as set forth in the Sermon on the Mount, in the life example of Jesus, in the lives of Paul, Peter, and other Biblical heroes of faith. Making a transition from knowledge about God to the experience of God's active presence in our lives, however, is a far different thing.
The believers Paul addressed already had a lot of knowledge. They knew the kinds of things they were supposed to be doing. They could recite the kinds of actions, habits, and attitudes they should have as believers in Christ Jesus. They had listened to Paul preach. They had watched Paul live among them for a period of some three years. They had seen his example of living with Christ and watching Christ Jesus live through him. Their heads were full of information, but at issues was the character of their lives in application of what they could claim to know.
This was the issue that gave Paul concern. They knew what to do. They knew what to leave off doing. They knew how the gospel should impact their lives. They were lagging, however, in putting all that knowledge into practice.
Whether or not we accept the premise of Global Warming as a product of human action, we know that landfills are filling up due to our consumption of plastics. We know that a failure to recycle paper results in more trees being cut down. We know that habitat for many species of plants and animals are being destroyed, the seas are being polluted, and Americans waste as much as most of the world consumes. Having the will to address the issue, however, is an entirely other matter.
The same is true for our lives of faith. We can waste our knowledge of God and the demands of the gospel. We can pay lip-service to living for Christ Jesus. We can go so far as to memorize the Beatitudes, Lord's Prayer, and Psalm 23. Until we begin living by those passages, however, we have not really begun the journey of the faith to which we claim to cling.
We delude ourselves into thinking that claiming the name of Jesus, praying the sinner's prayer, going to church, and singing a few hymns is all that is needed to assure us of a place in heaven. We hide the fact that faith is so much more than a destination in eternity. It is a life with Christ Jesus today that will endure forever. Isn't it high time to worry about becoming like the one we claim as Lord? That is the purpose of accepting Jesus as Lord—to allow His will and identity to become reality in our lives.
Set your habits up for scrutiny under the will of Christ and keep what flows from God.
"Lord, help me focus not on knowledge, but on the application of your gospel to my life."
—©Copyright 2009 Christopher B. Harbin
http://www.sermonsearch.com/contributors/104427/
Knowing and doing are very different things. In education, we speak of teaching as necessarily changing the way one acts. If there is no transformation of action, there is no real understanding. Without the application of knowledge to life, it is only information that may be recalled, but has not yet been accepted and integrated into life. In theology, that is often where we stand, as well.
We have plenty of information about God, about the Bible, about the gospel of Jesus Christ, about the pattern for our lives as set forth in the Sermon on the Mount, in the life example of Jesus, in the lives of Paul, Peter, and other Biblical heroes of faith. Making a transition from knowledge about God to the experience of God's active presence in our lives, however, is a far different thing.
The believers Paul addressed already had a lot of knowledge. They knew the kinds of things they were supposed to be doing. They could recite the kinds of actions, habits, and attitudes they should have as believers in Christ Jesus. They had listened to Paul preach. They had watched Paul live among them for a period of some three years. They had seen his example of living with Christ and watching Christ Jesus live through him. Their heads were full of information, but at issues was the character of their lives in application of what they could claim to know.
This was the issue that gave Paul concern. They knew what to do. They knew what to leave off doing. They knew how the gospel should impact their lives. They were lagging, however, in putting all that knowledge into practice.
Whether or not we accept the premise of Global Warming as a product of human action, we know that landfills are filling up due to our consumption of plastics. We know that a failure to recycle paper results in more trees being cut down. We know that habitat for many species of plants and animals are being destroyed, the seas are being polluted, and Americans waste as much as most of the world consumes. Having the will to address the issue, however, is an entirely other matter.
The same is true for our lives of faith. We can waste our knowledge of God and the demands of the gospel. We can pay lip-service to living for Christ Jesus. We can go so far as to memorize the Beatitudes, Lord's Prayer, and Psalm 23. Until we begin living by those passages, however, we have not really begun the journey of the faith to which we claim to cling.
We delude ourselves into thinking that claiming the name of Jesus, praying the sinner's prayer, going to church, and singing a few hymns is all that is needed to assure us of a place in heaven. We hide the fact that faith is so much more than a destination in eternity. It is a life with Christ Jesus today that will endure forever. Isn't it high time to worry about becoming like the one we claim as Lord? That is the purpose of accepting Jesus as Lord—to allow His will and identity to become reality in our lives.
Set your habits up for scrutiny under the will of Christ and keep what flows from God.
"Lord, help me focus not on knowledge, but on the application of your gospel to my life."
—©Copyright 2009 Christopher B. Harbin
http://www.sermonsearch.com/contributors/104427/
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