Here's a new devotion that I wrote. It's based on the passage below. You can find a recording of this devotion at the bottom of the page.
Romans 2:12-24 [Contemporary English Version]
Those people who don’t know about God’s Law will still be punished for what they do wrong. And the Law will be used to judge everyone who knows what it says. God accepts those who obey his Law, but not those who simply hear it.
Some people naturally obey the Law’s commands, even though they don’t have the Law. This proves that the conscience is like a law written in the human heart. And it will show whether we are forgiven or condemned, when God appoints Jesus Christ to judge everyone’s secret thoughts, just as my message says.
Some of you call yourselves Jews. You trust in the Law and take pride in God. By reading the Scriptures you learn how God wants you to behave, and you discover what is right. You are sure that you are a guide for the blind and a light for all who are in the dark. And since there is knowledge and truth in God’s Law, you think you can instruct fools and teach young people.
But how can you teach others when you refuse to learn? You preach it is wrong to steal. But do you steal? You say people should be faithful in marriage. But are you faithful? You hate idols, yet you rob their temples. You take pride in the Law, but you disobey the Law and bring shame to God. It is just as the Scriptures tell us, “You have made foreigners say insulting things about God.”
One of the slogans I heard an awful lot when I was a child was this simple phrase, “Actions speak louder than words.” Of course, as I remember, mom usually said it after I’d promised to do something, failed to do it and then started pouting because it just wasn’t fair that I didn’t get partial credit for making the promise in the first place. I mean, although saying may not be as good as actually doing, the spoken word must still be important. It demonstrated my good intentions, right? Therefore, even though I never actually got around to fulfilling my promise, the words must be almost as important as the actions. Or so I thought, until I heard my mom saying that phrase which could literally be curved into my tombstone.
And I’ll tell you, I think that’s what Paul was getting at in what he said to Jewish Christians in his letter to the Romans. Evidentially, they’d made the same kind of assumptions I used to make. And as a result, their pattern had become identical to mine. But to Paul, what they were doing was just as misguided as promising to cut the grass and then watching The Bungles Show instead. In other words, talking about honesty and faithfulness means absolutely nothing if you’ve decided to live dishonest and disobedient lives. You see, having God’s law only has value when we choose to follow it.
And you know, I think that’s something we all need to remember as we go about living our lives. I mean, spiritual-sounding words are all well and good but only if the dedication and devotion expressed can be seen in the lives we actually live. And we can talk on and on about how we’ve decided to follow Jesus, but those words mean nothing if we’re not doing what he called us to do, namely to love others as much as we love ourselves. As a matter of fact, as a country, we can claim to be a “nation under God,” but if we decide that we’re not going to feed the hungry and give drink to thirsty, we’re not going to clothe the naked and welcome the stranger, and we’re not going to care for the sick and visit the prisoner, then in the sight of God, all our words may be nothing more than a lot of hot air. You know, I think we all know what’s most important when life comes down to words and actions.
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