REPOST Today’s Spiritual Food for Thought, provided by Pastor Barry Kang who heads Symphony Church in Boston, was first posted on March 9, 2014.  He is a graduate of Stanford University (BA), Fuller Theological Seminary (M.Div.) and Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary (D.Min.). 

Spiritual Food for Thought for the Weekend

“Being a Doer”

2 Corinthians 3:18 

“And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit.”

Can I be direct with you this morning?  I fear that Christianity in this country has sometimes reduced the gospel to one of two things: either doctrine that we know in our minds, or emotions that we feel in our hearts.  Doctrine is very important and emotional experiences that are founded on right doctrine are very important.  But in the end, the result of the gospel is transformation.  If we reflect the Lord’s glory, then we will be transformed into his likeness with ever-increasing glory!

I remember Andy Stanley talking about how many of us are satisfied with merely being “convicted.”  We might attend a worship service, which (either through the praise or the message or both) stimulates our minds and engages our hearts, and we will be “convicted” about an area of our lives.   We might confess and pray a prayer of repentance.  We might even tell God that we’re going to obey.  Then, we will go about our merry way, never following through, satisfied in knowing that we had “experienced” God. 

To use a silly household analogy, it does me no good to be convicted about vacuuming my house, unless I actually vacuum.  When I face the “judge,” I will earn little sympathy when I tell him that, at least, I wanted to do it.  The true test of whether I actually wanted to vacuum is if I have actually followed through with it!  To belabor the point: the true test of whether we are following Jesus is if we are actually following Jesus.  

You might be reading this before Sunday service…or after the service.  Regardless, I pray that God will have engaged your mind and your heart.  If you receive a “conviction,” please obey God.  Remember, “whoever keeps his word, in him truly the love of God is perfected” (1 John 2:5).  Don’t be satisfied with merely being convicted (in mind or in heart).  God has much more that He wants to do in you and through you!

Prayer: Heavenly Father, help me not to merely listen to Your words, thereby deceiving myself, but do what You say.  Remind me that “whoever claims to live in [God] must walk as Jesus did” (1 Jn. 2:6). May I be filled with the Spirit in order to lead the life of a doer.  Amen.  

Bible Reading for Today: 2 Chronicles 28