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can you hear me now?

You remember the TV commercial that used the line "can you hear me now?".  It is one that few of us in this generation will forget.  Often I am on the phone (especially when in certain locations) and have to ask that question.  I am grateful that most of the time our connections are better than they used to be.

But this question can stream into other areas of life as we think about our faith and how we live or don't live for God.  Maybe you have heard it put this way, "what you do is so loud that I can't hear what you say".  Our actions and our words often don't match.  We may say that believe in God yet our lives scream that we need God.  What does your life say to those who look on or to those who see you for the first time?

You say you have faith, for you believe that there is one God. Good for you! Even the demons believe this, and they tremble in terror.

What we say and what we do should match up.  Many people believe we should be telling others about Jesus and that our lives should point people to Jesus, yet there are pieces of what we do and what we say that point people in a very different direction.  The demons believe in God.  The devil himself believes in God.  Maybe if we believed like they did others could hear us.

I fear that there are people looking for answers and we are the ones saying "can you hear me now?", and there answer is something like "I'm confused".  Does this make sense?

I am convinced that our faith can be incredible.  I am convinced that our lives can make a difference.  I cam convinced that I have and you can hear from God.  As people ask that question, let them see and hear God.  Take a minute to close this day or this week by seeking God to marry your words and your actions, to let your heart be so full of God that He comes out when you and I act and when we speak.  It is at that point that people will hear us and hear God clearly.

By the way, it is all about God!

May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be pleasing to you, OLord, my rock and my redeemer.

You see, his faith and his actions worked together. His actions made his faith complete.

Comments

Jeff Schicke said…
Thanks Michael. It's so easy indeed to say one thing but do another (hypocrisy). How many ministers and other leaders have embarrassed themselves by not living a life true to the words they've spoken? On the other side of the coin, I believe that hypocrisy comes not just from saying one thing and doing another, but in any divergence between what's in our heart and how we express ourselves in words or actions. Somehow (I believe), we won't have nearly as much positive impact if we aren't living and speaking Christ from the heart.
July 23, 2011 at 6:38:00 PM EDT
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