Knowing and Doing - March 2022

Have you ever heard someone quote the phrase, "knowing is half the battle?" I'm sure you have. You may have even used this phrase yourself a few times. When you take the time to think about it, what does “knowing is half the battle” really mean? It can mean many things depending on the context. One common interpretation can mean that the most important part of any project or endeavor is gathering the necessary knowledge first. Once you've done that, then what?

It’s true knowing is half of what we need in order to accomplish things, but the other half is just as important. Not only is it important for you to know what to do, but once you know, you must actually do it. When you set out to accomplish a goal, do you follow the tried and true process of success, or do you skip steps expecting to get the same results? So often we know what to do, yet somewhere between knowing what to do and actually doing it, we get locked up in our own insecurities, fear, laziness, and disobedience. When we let insecurity, fear, laziness, and disobedience to take root, we are cheating ourselves from living the life that Jesus intended for us to live. (John 10:10)

Ponder these thoughts...

-If we know that we should teach our children all they need to know about to live a life anchored by the Word of God, yet we fail to actually teach them, will they have a foundation for their lives that is rooted in God? No! (Proverbs 22:6)

-If we know that we should love our neighbor as ourselves yet when we see they need help, we ignore the need and act like it doesn't exist, are we following God's command? No! (Matthew 22:39)

-If we know that we should pray every day to build a relationship with God, but we don't actually pray, will we have the relationship that we desire? No! (Psalm 145:18)

-If we know that Jesus is the only way to Heaven and we fail to do what is required to get there - confess Jesus as Lord - will we spend eternity in Heaven? Absolutely not! (John 14:6)

God knows that there are many that don't know Him and don't know what to do in their daily lives. He also knows that there are many who know Him, yet they reject the truth by failing to put the truth into action. What about you? What category do you fall in? Are you unfamiliar with the Father (I Am), the Son (Jesus Christ), and the Holy Spirit (the Comforter), are you doing the best you can to follow the Word of God whole heartedly, or do you reject the truth by failing to do what you know? If you don't know Him, that's one thing; but when you know Him and then fail to do what is asked of you, that's something totally different. In one of the many times Jesus taught the disciples of the blessings in being a servant, Jesus concluded by saying, "Now that you know these things, God will bless you for doing them." (John 13:17) In studying what the Word says about knowing and doing, I know without a shadow of a doubt that doing is important!

The Bible is clear. It's not enough to claim we are followers of Jesus. Our lives should be evidence that God's will is more important than our own. (Matthew 7:21) If we know the Word yet we fail to do what it says, we are only fooling ourselves. (James 1:22-24) God wants us to live abundant lives, so much so that He left us words of wisdom, encouragement, and instruction to guarantee our success. One of the many wonderful things about our Heavenly Father is that He gives us chance after chance to get it right. So what choice will you make? Don't choose ignorance, acting like you don't know what to do. Choose today to truly follow the Lord - not only in what you know, but most importantly in what you do. (Luke 11:28)

Choose to be a "do-er", and you will be blessed for it.

References
Tyndale House Foundation. (1996, 2004, 2015). Holy Bible, New Living Translation. Carol Stream, Illinois. All rights reserved.: Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers.