Title

Saying Vs. Doing

Scripture
Whether it is pleasing or displeasing, we will obey the voice of the Lord our God . . . that it may be well with us when we obey the voice of the Lord our God.
(Jeremiah 42:6)
Devotional
Spiritual rhetoric is easy; spiritual obedience requires grace. The people wanted to flee to Egypt, but God wanted them to stay in the land. They did not do what they said they would do; instead they fled to Egypt and died. It may not be the easy thing to do, but obedience will always prove to be the right thing to do. It is easy to say, “Your will be done.” It is another thing to walk in God’s will. It is one thing to speak it; it is quite another thing to do it. We are told in Ecclesiastes, “When you make a vow to God, do not delay to pay it; for He has no pleasure in fools. Pay what you have vowed. It is better not to vow than to vow and not pay. Do not let your mouth cause your flesh to sin”(1) We may not always have the spiritual fortitude to do the good that we know to do, but we are to at least have the willingness to attempt to do what we say we are going to do. Let us not be hypocrites in our hearts.(2)

(1) Ecclesiastes 5:4-6, (2) Jeremiah 42:20
Text For The Day
Jeremiah 42:6: “Whether it is pleasing or displeasing, we will obey the voice of the Lord our God…, that it may be well with us when we obey the voice of the Lord our God.”
Thought For The Day
“Twas but my tongue, twas not my soul that swore.” Euripides, (480–406 BC), Greek tragic playwright
 
 
Questions To Ponder
 
Morning Study Guide
Defining:  “Obeying the voice of the Lord” is simply doing the right that you know to do.
 
Referencing: “Let your ‘Yes’ be ‘Yes,’ and your ‘No,’ ‘No,’ lest you fall into judgment,” James 5:12.
 
Applying: Be slow to vow, quick to keep your vows. Be slow to speak, swift to keep your word.