Walk the Talk – Part 1

This week, Michael writes: There's a story of a group of men who called themselves fishermen. Their area was renowned for its lakes and streams filled with big and hungry fish. The men met weekly and talked about the abundance of fish and defended fishing as an occupation. They searched for new and better ways of fishing. Their slogan was "fishing is the task of every fishermen."  They sponsored councils and conventions about fishing. They built large buildings at their fishing headquarters. However, they never fished. They called many to go into the fishing business. They held meetings to find where there were other areas where the fish were plentiful. They educated many people about how to approach and catch fish. But the teachers never fished. They sent out many students to do full time fishing. Like their teachers back home, these students never fished either. Some made fishing equipment, others studied how to farm fish. After one meeting, one young man went out and caught two large fish. The chairman of the fisherman club recruited him to go out and tell others about the two fish that he had caught. The young man never fished again. 

The moral of this story is that they never followed the master's calling. The master is Jesus Christ who had said, "I will make you fishers of men." Jesus said in John 14, "If you love me you will keep my commandments." If we say that we treasure treasures in heaven instead of upon earth, then our actions will prove where our heart is. The proof is in the pudding. However, salvation starts with "confession" that Jesus is Lord. Confession means to "speak the same thing." In life, it means to talk the talk and walk the walk. As the book of James says, “Be doers of the Word and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves”. The question is, "What is it that you value?" For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.

Paul said Philippians 1:21, regardless of whether I live or die, to live is Christ and to die is gain. My life and death are for the same purpose: the furtherance of the gospel of (the good news of) my Lord Jesus Christ. We were created for God's glory, not ours. The 1828 Webster’s Dictionary defines the word “glory” as: Praise ascribed in adoration; honor of God for His divine perfections or excellence. The word "glory" in the Hebrew text means "weight." Glory is the substance of the things of weighty and lasting value. The interpretation of the "handwriting on the wall" in the book of Daniel said, "thou art weighed in the balance and found wanting." The scale is God’s standards.

When heaven is your treasure, repentance is your greatest opportunity. Repentance means to "change your mind." It means to do an about-face ... to turn from self and unto the Lord Jesus Christ. Our moment by moment opportunity is to "set our affection on things above, not on things of this earth." Our grand opportunity is to turn our eyes upon Jesus. According to Hebrews 11:1, Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.  

Let's continue Michael's message on "Walking the Talk" in the next post.

In Christ, Brian