Knowing Versus Doing

“If you know these things, you are blessed if you do them.”

(John 13:17)

I’m convicted by this verse. Notice that blessing is contingent upon action. Just knowing God’s Word is not adequate. In order to please God we need to put our knowledge into practice.

God’s plan for us is so complete that He gives us special abilities with which to serve Him. We call them spiritual gifts. They are mentioned several places in the Bible; one of them being Romans 12. There Paul speaks of the gifts of prophecy (speaking God’s Word), service, teaching, exhorting, giving, leading and showing mercy. Every Christian has at least one spiritual gift.

Our responsibility is to determine which of those gifts we have and then to use it effectively. John Piper says in his book Let the Nations be Glad “God is most glorified in us when we are most satisfied in Him.” I believe we are most satisfied in Him when we are using the gifts He has given us to serve Him and others.

We must be careful how we apply the teaching of spiritual gifts. For instance, it is not proper to think that if we shouldn’t give to the Lord’s work unless we have the gift of giving. To the contrary, Scripture tells us we all have a responsibility to return a portion of our income to the Lord. In fact, that should be the first thing we consider when distributing our income. Proverbs 3:9 says we should “honor the Lord from our wealth and from the first of your produce” and in I Cor. 16:2 explains “on the first day of every week let each of you put aside and save whatever he prospers, that no collections be made when I come”.

We all also have the responsibility of sharing our faith with those who don’t know the Lord. Some, however, seem to have the gift of evangelism. I’ve observed this gift used two different ways; one by a gifted public speaker like Billy Graham, and another by a friend who effectively shares his faith with individuals at every opportunity.

How effectively are you practicing your Christian faith? Do others easily recognize your relationship with the Lord?