Belief and Action

After a big day with the family, we actually slept in today for a little while. With my mid-morning antibiotic treatment, we decided to go to the late service at Timberline Church. This provided us an opportunity to connect with our friends Gwen and Phyllis Kovak. Phyllis went through some hip surgery and a challenging recovery in recent weeks. She is doing well and was walking with just a cane. I gave her a hard time about making me look bad, especially considering her rebound as someone in her early 90’s. After the service we headed out to lunch together and enjoyed a nice meal and good time of conversation.

With the holiday weekend our neighborhood pool will be closing down. My hospitalization and the IV line in my arm has kept me from my pool activities in the past two weeks. The grandkids did make it down to the pool and I took the opportunity to get an “end of the season” picture with Harrison one of the lifeguards. Harrison is a junior at CSU and has been a lifeguard at our neighborhood pool for five years.

BIBLE VERSE FOR TODAY… “For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believesif you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved…. Scripture says, “Everyone who believes in him will not be put to shame.” … for the same Lord is Lord of all, bestowing his riches on all who call on him…For “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”       Romans 10:4,9,11,13

A few months ago a friend of mine expressed the difficulty for him in understanding the Bible. I then recall the words of a famous preacher of old who would say, “it is not the parts of the Bible I don’t understand the cause me the greatest concern, it is those parts that I do understand.”

While the book of Romans can contain some challenging passages, these verses above are clear to understand. The core of the gospel and a personal relationship with Christ is built on the foundation of “belief.” Belief in the person of Christ, belief in the claims of Christ is what makes the difference. What you believe results in a righteousness that comes from Christ. What you believe about Christ is key to forgiveness of sin. We are told that this commitment to believe in Christ and His death and resurrection from the dead does not result in shame or regret.

But we see that what we believe must be acted upon. Belief and action go hand in hand. As it is in so many areas of life and it applies to our spiritual life as well. When we believe in Christ it calls us to “confess with out mouth” that belief. It brings courage to “call on the name of the Lord.” And when we call on the name of the Lord we experience forgiveness and blessing.

That is about as simple and straight forward as it can get. Simple enough for a child, powerful enough to change the life of an adult. Believe, confess and receive. What do you believe? You take action on what you believe everyday. So, do your actions support what you believe?