AGREEING ISN'T ALWAYS BELIEVING

   

 Do your beliefs govern your behavior?  Actually, yes, belief absolutely governs behavior.  In fact, if your behavior does not line up with what you claim to believe, you probably do not believe what you think you believe.  You may agree with what you claim to believe, meaning you give mental ascent, but if you do not behave according to what you agree with, you do not really believe it.  

Proverbs 4:23  Keep thy heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life. 

      I agree that a sword is a fine weapon.  Millions, perhaps even billions, have perished at the edge of a sword.  I do not, however, believe a sword is a fine weapon for me.  If I did, I would be an expert swordsman.  I like swords, I own swords and I know about swords, but I am no swordsman.  I could bluff around other non-swordsmen, but if I ever came across a real swordsman, I would last all of about 30 seconds.  I have just enough experience with a sword to be dangerous to myself.

     The Bible is the sword of the Spirit.  If you are reading this, you probably agree the Bible is the Word of God.  You probably agree the Bible holds truth.  You probably agree it is good to read and learn the Bible.  Whether you actually believe these things, however, is demonstrated by your behavior.  You may agree the Bible is a fine book, you may like the Bible, you may own Bibles, you may know some things about the Bible, but do you read the Bible?  If you truly believed the Bible was important and relevant to you, you would read it.  

     I bet you agree if you stood in front of a speeding train, you would be killed.  I also bet I could not convince you to stand in front of a speeding train, no matter how persuasive my argument might be.  Why would no one convince you to stand in front of a speeding train?  No one could convince you because you believe a speeding train would kill you.  Your belief in the power of the speeding train not only governs your behavior, it also holds up against argument to the contrary.  You know in your core a speeding train would kill you.  You have never been killed by a speeding train, you have probably never seen someone killed by a speeding train.  You have no experiential evidence a speeding train would kill you, yet you believe it in your heart of hearts.  

     The challenge for the Church is to get what we agree is true in our minds to travel down 12 inches to our hearts.  What you truly believe in your heart will drive your life.  Proverbs 23:7 tells us "as a man thinketh in his heart, so he is"  

     Take a spiritual inventory, ask God to search your heart and reveal inconsistency.  The Psalmist was brave enough to confront his own heart and even asked God to search it on his behalf: Psalm  139:23  Search me, O God, and know my heart: try me, and know my thoughts:  And see if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting. 

     Do you really believe or simply agree that God is good?  Do you really believe or simply agree that the Bible is the handbook for life?  Do you live like someone who believes Jesus could return any moment or do you simply agree that Jesus is coming back someday?  Your life bears witness to your faith, this is why James told us in his epistle, "Faith without works is dead."  Works do not create faith, works reveal faith. What do your works reveal about your faith?  If a stranger spent the week with you, would they know you were a follower of Jesus Christ?  

       God loves you and wants to bless you in your service to Him.  Believe He is good and know in your heart He is trustworthy and His ways are the way of life.  

Now, go live as Christ... and give the devil hell!