Saying and Doing

The WORD today (See http://usccb.org/bible/readings/011513.cfm) reminds me again that knowing Christ, saying He is God, is very different from doing His work.

In the first reading and psalm, we see how great God’s love is for us, that he sent his only son and made him human just like us, to save us from our sins. We also see Jesus love for God, when he obeyed and went down to our level to save us from our sins. This is one fact that not everyone during Jesus’ time did not know, could not understand and do not want to understand.

In the gospel, we see someone knowing who Jesus is. The man with unclean spirit knows who Jesus really is. “What have you to do, Jesus of Nazareth?... I know who you are – the Holy One of God.” Jesus was not happy with the man’s word. Why? Because he was not saying that out of faith and love of him. he was saying that to mock Jesus. We then saw Jesus commanding the unclean spirit to shut up come out of the man.

Knowing Jesus is not enough. Professing Jesus is not enough. Especially know, it is easy to say who Jesus is. It is easy to tell what he did for us. We know it. We study it in school. We hear it from people. What is harder, and what is more important, is living it. We need to live our faith. We need to profess our faith, not with our lips, but with our actions. As we do this, we can say that Jesus would be happy and pleased with us.

Am I living my faith in God?

Father God,

Thank you for today. Thank you for reminding us that it is not enough to profess my faith with words. Lord, I am sorry for sometimes being complacent with my faith, for being contented with simply knowing you, simply telling others about you. I ask that you help me live my faith. May I translate my words into actions and may I live a life pleasing to you. Amen.

Blessed day!

In Christ,

-g-