Actions speak louder than words. We know they do. Actions speak!
Jesus tells a parable about a father who had two sons. He asked the first one to go and work in the fields. He said, “No,” but then he went and worked.
The father asked his other son to go and work in the field. He said, “Yes,” but then he didn’t go and work. Who did the father’s will? The son who went to work. Actions speak louder than words.
We act like the second son when we say “Yes” to something, but then don’t follow through. For example, “Yes, I’m going on a diet,” but then we don’t.
In spiritual matters we say “Yes” to God, but then the words we use, the jokes we tell, and the actions we take, speak loud and clear: the “Yes” to God was really a “No.” We find that we have been admirers of God, not followers. Yes becomes No.
On the other hand, like we’ve all said “No” to something, but then we did it. You might say, “I’ll never forgive her for what she did.” But then, you remember God’s grace and forgiveness for yourself and you forgive her.
If we are honest with ourselves, then we know our lives are full of “No, No, No.” It’s true, “No, I don’t do the things I want to do. No, I don’t love others as I love myself.
Yet there is hope for us, because God takes our “No” and says “Yes” to us. The Apostle Paul puts it this way, “For God in Jesus was not Yes and No, but in him it is always Yes” (2 Corinthians 1:19).
Prayer: “Gracious Lord, help us to follow through on our Yes to you. Guide us to examine our lives to see where we have said “Yes” to you, but then turned it into a “No.” Allow us to search ourselves and repent so that we always say “Yes” to you, and that “Yes” remains steadfast and sure. Amen.