Action

We ushered in the new year. We love the thought of a fresh start. It allows us to leave the old behind and begin something new. There is so much hope and promise in a new year. 365 days ready and waiting to be filled and we get to choose how to fill them.

I am not a resolution girl. I steer clear of making any new year’s resolutions because I know I most likely will not hold any of them. I say I am more of a “lifestyle change” kind of gal. I need to change my life, the way I am living, instead of making some unattainable goal.

I heard Jo Saxon talk recently about action in accordance with the Word. She was referring to a conversation about the founding of the Jesuits. A man named Ignatius Loyola founded the group and was tenacious about contemplating the Scriptures and then taking action because of the Word. Saxon talked briefly about Jesus and how in everything he did he had an action plan. He didn’t just see a Samaritan woman gathering water in the middle of the day. He saw a woman in need. And, not only did he see a woman in need, he saw beyond her foreseeing an entire village that needed to Gospel. He had an action plan when he met her at the well that fateful day. He knew he was dealing with souls that needed hope and He was that hope.

Jesus lived his life in the balance of contemplation and action. He spent time with the Father in deep prayer but didn’t stay there. He went out and acted. He spent time finding His purpose more and more and then went out and acted on that purpose.

Where do you fall? Do you hear or read your Bible and then set it down until the next day. Or, do you read, contemplate, and then act on what you just learned?

What is your action plan?

So many of us commit time, effort, and energy to contemplate this life and how we want to live it out making an action plan to achieve these new goals. So often we fail at our new year’s resolutions, or any new goal we make,  because we don’t know how to get from contemplation to action. Or, our actions are so far fetched and out of reach that they are unattainable and are so beyond what we thought in our minds.

Jesus’ action plan always matched the Father’s will. His actions were a natural progression birthed out of his contemplation. Think about when Jesus prayed in the garden. The story is found in Matthew. Jesus is in agony knowing his fate. He is praying (contemplating)about what is about to happen (action). This is when Jesus asked God to take this lot away from him but ultimately surrendered to the will of the Father. Jesus’ prayer, his contemplation, matched his action. It made sense.

We are called to be in our Bibles; to learn the will of God through His Word. We are also called to take action and not just sit on what we are taught. So many of us Christians go to church on Sunday, hear a message, head out to lunch, and go on with our lives. There is no evidence of change, growth, or action based on what we just learned. Imagine what the Church would look like if we acted upon what God was teaching us.

Today is a new day. Today is the perfect time to begin contemplation plus activation. God is calling us not only to hear his Word but to act on it. What is your action plan?

Love & Blessings,

Meg