Don’t Just Stand There – Obey Something!

Do you know people who are always going to do something tomorrow?

It’s Friday, are there things you’re already moving onto next week’s list?

My to-do’s never end and I’m surrounded by projects that people are going to get to tomorrow or when they have time or after they finish their work or when there’s a break in their schedule. And I’m just like them.

What if – when it comes to the things of God – we stopped waiting until tomorrow? What if we stopped idling our engines searching for a new insight or a sign or the time or a break in our schedule and just decided to act on what we already know?

A Facebook friend reminded me this week of a quote from Kierkegaard: “The Bible is very easy to understand… We pretend to be unable to understand it because we know very well that the minute we understand we are obliged to act accordingly.”

There is much about God that is a mystery. There are ways in which I am still waiting for His will to be revealed in my life.

That’s not as much of a problem as I make it out to be, though. The real problem are the things that ARE clear, the things I DO know are His will for me and my lack of consistent response to them!

As I Kierkegaard’s quote, I was surrounded by books. A couple of Bibles, a commentary, my journal, Christian fiction, inspirational non-fiction and my journal . In my lap was my computer with an open window to a myriad of blogs and websites full of the latest Christian information. I wondered how I would find time to study more this week-end. I love to study, to research, to learn and to seek God.

Then it occurred to me – what if this week-end, I simply put what I already know into practice? What if I take something I understand from scripture like

“Do everything without arguing and complaining”

or “Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry”

or “Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God” or

“Forgive and you will be forgiven.”

Or “Bear with one another.”

Or “Share with God’s people who are in need.”

What if, I took just one of these very clear commands and asked God for the power to embody it tomorrow? What if I obeyed it for a day or the week-end? What if I spent the week-end acting on and living out the clear truth I already know about God and His will for me and my life?

What if?

I don’t know. But I hope to have an answer by Monday.