I’m not sure about you, but I’ve found that too often I hear truth and presume that because I’ve gained knowledge or information, I’ve applied it to my life and am living it out.
For example, I read a book about health and exercise, I close the book, smile, and live the same way I did before.
Nothing changed.
And it is sad how often we will do the same with Scripture.
We read, we study, we glean … but we actually don’t obey.
We esteem obedience. We love the doctrine and theology. But our lives remain the same.
Jesus told a parable about two men who both heard His words, but only one obeyed (see Matthew 7:24–27).
They both listened. They both gained knowledge. But only one put it into action.
The one who listened AND obeyed was compared to “a wise man who built his house on the rock. And the rain descended, and the rivers came, and the winds blew and fell against that house; and yet it did not fall, for it had been founded on the rock.”
The one who only gleaned information was like a house on sand that was destroyed when the storm and floods came.
Interestingly, both characters had heard Jesus and both encountered a storm/flood. Yet only one withstood—the one who obeyed (ie: built his house on a foundation of rock).
In our modern day, it is far too easy to listen to podcasts, sermons, read books, study, and gain more and more information … yet never put it into practice.
The gathering of more knowledge doesn’t build a foundation of rock; obeying does.
It’s not the amount of information you have; it’s the extent of your obedience that matters.
Let this day be a day of obedience in both our lives.
I want to be Christian who not only hears the word of Jesus but obeys and immediately puts it into practice.
I pray the same for you.