Articles
Now, Go and Do!
I had the opportunity to attend a couple of meetings before ours and then the first part of
the week with Devin. And even though it can be tiring, it was good to be with the saints so often
and to hear God’s Word being preached faithfully. I hope you were encouraged and challenged
in your life with Christ.
One of the responses I kept hearing over the past couple of weeks was, “The easy part
was hearing. Now, if we will only go and do!” How very correct! It was easy to be in attendance
each night of the meeting. It was easy to sit in the pew and listen to the gospel proclaimed, even
though it may have caused you to squirm a little bit. But, the difficult challenge is to take the
lessons presented, apply them to our lives and then begin to live them each and every day.
Jesus recognized the same difficulty as He preached during His ministry. At the end of
the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus said, “Therefore every one who hears these words of Mine, and
acts [does] upon them, …” (Matthew 7:24). Before the parable of the wise and foolish men,
Jesus stated clearly, “Not every one who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of
heaven; but he who does the will of My Father…” (Matthew 7:21). James, early in his letter,
shares the same sentiment, “But prove yourselves doers of the word, and not merely hearers who
delude themselves” (James 1:22-25). And then he proceeds to give the example of a man who
sees himself in a mirror, but then forgets what type of person he is.
I wonder how many of us will be that way with the words which have been shared with
us this past week? The easy part was to be present, but now we need to go and do. We need to be
showing the world the holiness of God by the lives we live. Are we being true lights for the
Father (Matthew 5:16)? The apostle Peter proclaimed, “You are a chosen race, a royal
priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God’s own possession, that you may proclaim the
excellencies of Him who has called you out of darkness into His marvelous light; …” (1 Peter
2:9). Or will you choose to hide your light under the bushel (Matthew 5:15)? James further
writes, “To one who knows the right thing to do, and does not do it, to him it is sin” (Jas. 4:17).
I hope and pray that we will put into practice the wonderful lessons we have heard on
holiness and that we will strive to be more holy for the Lord each day. Yes, it has been a good
week of fellowship and hearing the preaching of God’s Word. But the task has just begun. Now,
it is time for us to “go and do”! ~Paul Mowrer
