I was just thinking about how much who we say we are doesn't add up often with who our actions say we are. We live in a society where it is okay to say one thing and do/mean another thing as long as it helps you reach your goal in the end.
Marriage doesn't mean much anymore. People laugh at religion. No one trusts a politician.
I can't help but think about how often I say one thing and do another. Everyday. My intentions may be good and I may mean what I say but if I don't back it up with an action that agrees with my words then they mean nothing at all. Have my words become meaningless? Does my "yes" mean yes and my "no" mean no? I'm not so sure.
The only thing I know to do when confronted with such brutal truths about myself is what I always do. I look at Jesus. And like every other time, I find the encouragement I am looking for.
Jesus was teaching and preaching all over the area. Many people started following him and he was getting very popular. Some started saying he might even be the one who would save the Jewish people. He might be the Messiah they were looking for. John was another local prophet. He had been teaching and preaching to the masses before Jesus came on the scene.
John was very much in line with a long list of prophet the Jews had already had. He walked the walk. Talked the talk. And lived, generally, like all the prophets before him. Jesus was a different. He didn't exactly fit into the mold of what everyone thought a "Messiah" would be. So John sends some of his followers to Jesus to ask this question:
"Are you the ONE we have been expecting, or are we stilling waiting?"
Jesus' response is so great. He doesn't say anything. He just keeps on teaching and healing people and loving everyone there. Hours later he turns to John's crew and doesn't say "yes" and he does say "no". Instead, he simply says, "Go back and tell John what you have seen and heard".
I'll finish with a paragraph from the letter of the Apostle James:
"Do you want to be counted wise, to build a reputation for wisdom? Here's what you do: Live well, live wisely, live humbly. It's the way you live, not the way you talk, that counts. Mean-spirited ambition isn't wisdom. Boasting that you are wise isn't wisdom. Twisting the truth to make yourselves sound wise isn't wisdom. It's the furthest thing from wisdom- it's animal cunning, devilish conniving. Whenever you're trying to look better than others or get the better of others, things fall apart and everyone ends up at the others' throats."
