Be an example in actions

“Are you ready to eat your crackers now?”, Annabelle asked Jayden.

“Yes”, Jayden replied and reached out for the mini crackers.

They munched quietly while watching an episode of the “Back to school” programme.

“Hey Jayden, let’s eat the biscuit one by one, so we don’t choke, okay?”, Annabelle instructed Jayden, who had hurriedly stuffed about three pieces in his little mouth.

Annabelle chewed on a single cracker and was disappointed. She couldn’t just get the full taste; she wanted a mouthful. Maybe three or four of these mini crackers would better suit her adult-sized mouth. So, she quickly sneaked in three pieces in her mouth. “Hmn, yummy, that tastes really good”, she murmured.

She instinctively turned to look at Jayden who had been watching her all along. He smiled, stuffed three pieces of crackers into his little mouth and slowly shook his head from side to side, “yummy”. Well, there goes the instruction! Annabelle felt defeated.

The popular maxim “actions speak louder than words” is understood even by a child; more so, as they constantly depend on their parents and caregivers for guidance and direction.

“But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man observing his natural face in a mirror; for he observes himself, goes away, and immediately forgets what kind of man he was. But he who looks into the perfect law of liberty and continues in it, and is not a forgetful hearer but a doer of the work, this one will be blessed in what he does” (James 1:22-25).

“Doing” brings justification. “For not the hearers of the law are just in the sight of God, but the doers of the law will be justified” (Romans 2:13). “Doing” keeps us safe from the storms of life and deepens our foundation in Christ. “Whoever comes to Me, and hears My sayings and does them, I will show you whom he is like: he is like a man building a house, who dug deep and laid the foundation on the rock. And when the flood arose, the stream beat vehemently against that house, and could not shake it, for it was founded on the rock (Luke 6:47-48).

Dear Lord, may our actions match what we say. Help us to be doers of the word in Jesus name. Amen.