16 They claim to know God, but by their actions they deny him. They are detestable, disobedient and unfit for doing anything good.
Notice the key to knowing if a claim can be backed up. We can look at a person’s record and see if their claims have been lived out in their actions. In this season of politics I have noticed that some politicians seem to change their claims based on the audience being addressed, but when you look at their actions, those actions tell a very different story. The same is true in our lives. Our words and our actions need to match. So what do we do if there is a discrepancy between our words and our actions? Change your words or change your actions! Either stop speaking words that are merely claims of identity, or get your actions in line with your claims. Now if you want to be a Jesus-follower, then your words must also match what God has about you and your place in the universe. That, of course, requires that you know what God has said about you and your place in His universe. The Christian life cannot be lived haphazardly. It must be lived with purpose and direction. And knowing that purpose and identity begins and ends in the Scriptures. There is no shortcut, no ‘buy this book’ cure for what ails us. So if our actions are not lining up, then we probably need to let the Word soak deeper into our spirit. That Word is able to cleanse and strengthen. It will also replace our thinking on a subject with God’s thinking on that subject. And since God’s thinking on a subject does not change, we can begin to live a consistent life, our words and our actions following the same path. Spend some extra time in the Word today.
The Arnold Journey 