Take action.

Proverbs 16:3 (ESV)

Commit your work to the Lord,

    and your plans will be established.

I came across an amusing story about General Stonewall Jackson's famous Valley Campaign. During the war, Jackson's army found itself on one side of a river when it needed to be on the other.

After telling his engineers to plan and build a bridge so the army could cross, he called his wagon master in to tell him it was urgent that the wagon train cross the river as soon as possible. At once, the wagon master started gathering all the logs, rocks and fence rails he could find and quickly put together a bridge.

Long before daylight, General Jackson got word that all the wagons and artillery had crossed the river. "Where are the engineers and what are they doing?" asked Jackson of his wagon master. "They are drawing up plans for a bridge, Sir." He replied.

Don't spend so much time drawing up plans -- be an example! Get out an take action! 

Dear Lord, help us to get out there and take action. Give us the wisdom to make the right choices. In the Name of Jesus, Amen. 

What are you actions saying?

Matthew 7:16 (NIV)

By their fruit you will recognize them. Do people pick grapes from thornbushes, or figs from thistles?

Vincent Van Gogh was not always an artist. In fact, he wanted to be a church pastor and was even sent to the Belgian mining community of Borinage in 1879. He discovered that the miners there endured deplorable working conditions and poverty-level wages. Their families were malnourished and struggled simply to survive. He felt concerned that the small stipend he received from the church allowed him a moderate life style, which, in contrast to the poor, seemed unfair.

One cold February evening, while he watched the miners trudging home, he spotted an old man staggering toward him across the fields, wrapped in a burlap sack for warmth. Van Gogh immediately laid his own clothing out on the bed, set aside enough for one change, and determined to give the rest away. He gave the old man a suit of clothes and he gave his overcoat to a pregnant woman whose husband had been killed in a mining accident. He lived on starvation rations and spent his stipend on food for the miners. When children in one family contracted typhoid fever, though feverish himself, he packed up his bed and took it to them.

A prosperous family in the community offered him free room and board. But Van Gogh declined the offer, stating that it was the final temptation he must reject if he was to faithfully serve his community of poor miners. He believed that if he wanted them to trust him, he must become one of them. And if they were to learn of the love of God through him, he must love them enough to share with them.

He was acutely aware of a wide chasm, which can separate words and actions. He knew that people's lives often speak louder and clearer than their words. Maybe it was that same knowledge that led Francis of Assisi to frequently remind his monks, "Wherever you go, preach. Use words if necessary."

People are "listening" carefully to your actions today.

Dear Lord, we pray that our actions would bring honor to You. Help us be careful of what we do so that when the people are listening to our actions they see You. In Jesus’ Name. Amen.

Love is an Action

Love is an action. The Bible stresses this truth again and again. Love must not only be spoken, it must also be shown. The beginning of love is God. He showed his love in the most sacrificial of ways so we could know our incredible value to him. The price of our adoption was the emptying of heaven of its greatest treasure, God the Son, who is our Savior.

This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him.

— 1 John 4:9

Dear Lord, thank you for adopting us into your family. We can never thank you enough or repay you for your kindness, but please receive the service of our life as our ongoing thanksgiving for your grace and our small way of trying to share the love you have given us. In Jesus name, Amen