Acts 26.20 First
to those in Damascus, then to those in Jerusalem and in all Judea, and then to
the Gentiles, I preached that they should repent and turn to God and
demonstrate their repentance by their deeds. – St. Paul
In the 1964 musical, My
Fair Lady, Eliza Doolittle, complains about Freddy’s promises. She cries
out: Words! Words! Words! I’m so sick of
words! I get words all day through; first from him, now from you! Is that all
you blighters can do!? She went on: Don't
talk of stars, burning above, if you're in love, show me! Tell me no dreams.
filled with desire, if you're on fire, show me! In other words, Freddy,
shut up and do something!
Those might also have been the words of Paul to the
Gentiles; he said, I preached that they
should repent and turn to God and demonstrate their repentance by their deeds.
We don’t prove our repentance by words; we prove it by a changed life, a life
of action. Don’t talk of Jesus, show me!
Full disclosure: I’m
a talker; I love to have deep conversations about God and His presence in
the world. I like to discuss theology and how it applies to modern man. My men’s
group on Thursdays is a talk-fest. But talk means nothing if there isn’t some
action to back up the speech. That’s what Paul meant by demonstrating our
repentance by our deeds. He meant deeds of kindness, acceptance, and love that
are the direct result of our present relationship with Jesus in our everyday
life.
Eliza was frustrated by Freddy’s bold speeches of his
undying devotion to her. She wasn’t having it – she wanted Freddy to put
actions to his intentions. Paul (and others in the New Testament) said the same
thing: proof of love for Jesus is shown
not in only in our talk, but also in our actions.
Our repentance must be demonstrated to be validated. Our
repentance needs to be visible and tangible. Our repentance needs proof; and
the proof is in our doing. The proof is in relationship, whether it is three
bucks given in compassion to a needy guy in a parking lot in Boise, or taking
someone to lunch to show there’s more depth in our relationship with them that
just, “Hey, how’s it going?” The proof is in the doing.
I am convicted today. I’m convicted by my penchant for words and my lack of tangible expression of God’s
love. If life is just about learning to do as others do, then my crowd would be
a boring bunch of eggheads droning on about this concept or that. Like the
Athenians of old, [we’d spend our time] doing
nothing but talking about and listening to the latest ideas. Ideas without
actions (deeds) are useless. Life is about action and life is about doing to
other as we would have others do to us.
Father, there is
more to my life than talk. Life abundant, as Jesus promised, is life with
others, and deeds done showing the depth of the relationship I have with You
deeds expressed in love and kindness with them. May my walk of Jesus be more than
talk; may my life with Jesus be demonstrated in my walk, and how I relate to
others by what I do for You. Amen
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