Do, don’t just say.

Today’s Manna – Our Daily Bread
http://bible.com/116/hos.11.7.nlt
For my people are determined to desert me. They call me the Most High, but they don’t truly honor me.

Observation
How am I determined to act? Am I satisfied talking about the Lord,  but not honoring Him in my actions?

Sometimes I think of my stumbles and it concerns me. I seem to be tripping over the same things that I have before. Sometimes it’s because I haven’t put up sufficient guardrails in my life to keep me away from those dangers, and sometimes I wonder if I’m not foolishly climbing over the guardrails thinking that I can desert God by ignoring Him.

Yes,  there are times that my actions do not honor Him. Yes, there are times where I am humbled by my own foolish thoughts,  words,  and actions that are not honoring God.

Hope
But I don’t desert Him. And even if I were to try, He roars like a lion, and I come back to Him,  trembling and afraid for what I have done. You see, I have placed my Hope in His grace and mercy and power,  not in my own works or ability to obtain salvation or reward by my own actions alone.

I have surrendered my life to Christ, even with the scrapes and scratches and scars from the many traps that I have fallen into. I no longer look at these stripes in guilt and shame,  but I have handed it over to Him, in confession to my Lord and my mediator, to accept and know forgiveness.

Faith
So I am determined to seek His will. I have faith that He will strengthen me,  that sin will be overcome in my life. I trust that if I resist evil,  that it will flee from me,  that He will strengthen me. But I have to resist. I have to repent, or I am running from Him, trying to desert Him.

And there is discipline,  there is consequence. How foolish and prideful is it for me to think that I know beret than His divine instruction and guidance? My rebellious action,  falling into a moment of distraction by a temptation of this world, isn’t it a reflection of my Faith, of my trust in the Lord (or lack of it)?

So let us turn to Him. Let us be found faithful. Let us pray for His strength to help us today.

Love
Yes,  we need daily forgiveness. Will there be a day when we look over our actions and can only see evidence of His work in us and through us? I’m afraid of a day when that is the case because it might just be foolish pride. I might then be tempted to compare myself to others instead of to Christ.

You see, when I compare my actions and thoughts and words to Christ, when I recognize my life in comparison to His,  I can only be humbled and grateful, and I can then be in the appropriate position of heart to love and serve others.

It is then that I want others too know His love,  His mercy,  His forgiveness,  and to learn to resist the temptation and rebellious nature,  and to instead be determined to remain in His presence, even while our very nature battles against letting us remain there.

Call to Action
There is Kingdom work to be done in each of us and through us. Hear His roar. Hear His call. Know His redeeming grace. Know your place, as a child of God, and as a living and faithful servant. Run to Him. Run into His arms. Praise Him with your life today, not just words or songs or anthems or written words. Follow Him in repentance and obedience and discipleship. And not as a heavy burden, but out of gratitude because you understand the value,  the price paid,  the sacrifice made for you.

Have we forgotten?

He tells us,  “Do this in remembrance of me.”

Do, don’t just say.