Our country was born in a time of trouble. When John Adams, who would become the second president of the United States, left Massachusetts for the First Continental Congress in Philadelphia, the colonies were facing trying times. Did they remain loyal to Britain, or did they break away from the Crown, and start their own nation? In Philadelphia amidst the debate, Adams received a letter from his wife, reminding him that here had been many high-powered words, but few men of action that could match those words.
Her concern was that the Continental Congress would become preoccupied with staying busy. They would go through the motions, but not accomplish anything. There were many problems facing the young nation, words alone would not help. There had to be a call to action. As Christians, we sometimes do more talking than doing. We meet, talk, and plan. Next year we do it all over again, setting aside God for the major problems. We become comfortable running in circles. Thankfully, the Bible tells us how to get out of the rut.
In the first chapter of the book of James we read, "Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like a man who looks at his face in a mirror and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like. But the man who looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues to do this, not forgetting what he has heard, but doing it—he will be blessed in what he does.(James 1:22-25 KJV) Mirrors in the first century was usually made of polished bronze. A person had to look in the mirror and turn it at different angles to get a complete picture. By doing this, a person could get a good idea of how he looked. When we study God's Word, we get a good idea of our spiritual condition. The measure of our Bible study is not how many boxes we check in our reading plan. It is how our lives are transformed into the image of Christ.
A glance at the Ten Commandments and we think we are doing good. A closer look at the Sermon on the Mount and we get a different picture. We can deal with loving our neighbors, but look at I Corinthians 13 and we have to think twice about that type of love. The Christian walk is not something we can do on our own, it is only by the Holy Spirit are we able to walk in the Spirit. Without God’s power, the Christian life becomes a series of disappointments. The more we look in the mirror, we see ourselves as God sees us. We realize how big God is, and how small we are.
When we read the stories of Abraham and David, we see that when they relied on their own cunning they failed. When they relied on God, they were over comers. If we stay busy with church work, and depend on our programs instead of God's power we find ourselves in trouble. Our words and actions are useless unless we rely on God. The key is to hide God's Word in our heart. Christians sometimes try to keep God in a box, but His power goes beyond our church walls. Through the power of His Word, we can become transformers instead of conformers. No matter what Washington or Wall Street does, our God is control. Throughout history, God had always watched over His own, by God’s grace we will survive.
