“Truly useful when applied!”
I was reading the Bible the other day in the Psalms.
“Teach me your decrees, O Lord; I will keep them to the end. Give me understanding and I will obey your instructions; I will put them into practice with all my heart.” Psalm 119:33-34
Out of nowhere I had this thought; the Bible is a lot like sunscreen.
You can learn a lot about sunscreen. There is all sorts of research you can do. Which brand is the best? What proper SPF works best for your particular skin tone? How often to reapply? Pros and cons of spray vs lotion style? You can have all the information about the sunscreen, but if you never actually apply it then that knowledge isn’t fulfilling its purpose.
The same is true for your faith. You can read all the devotionals. Check the boxes for your daily reading. Listen to online sermons and podcasts. Put all the information in your head, but if you never make an application then the knowledge is not fulfilling its purpose.
“But don’t just listen to God’s word. You must do what it says. Otherwise, you are only fooling yourselves.” James 1:22 NLT
The enemy is smart. Sometimes he comes right out and says “don’t use your sunscreen today,” but most of the time that is not the case. He lulls us into not using our knowledge and making true applications
I remember a Fall Break vacation that I took to visit some friends in South Carolina. We headed out to the beach. It was a cloudy day, barely any sun to be seen. We weren’t missing out on a chance at the beach though so we set up camp. I had all the supplies. I had all the information about when to apply my sunscreen. I had all the previous knowledge of knowing that I have pale skin and burn easily. (I actually got burnt on my leg one time in the car on a trip through the window.) However, I thought on that day that I wouldn’t “use” it. The conditions around me lulled me into complacency. Let’s just say I ended up looking like a lobster with large bubbles of sun poisoning all over my shoulders.
I had the information. I didn’t follow through on the application. The same is true for our faith.
The enemy knows that many times he is not going to get a believer to sin by showing them the consequences of their choices. If a believer can “see” what might happen because of the sin they are choosing then they are much more likely to not fall into that temptation. However, the enemy likes to “lull us” into decisions or make us complacent where we don’t make a decision at all. We have all the knowledge of what this sin could do to us. We have all the knowledge on how to avoid that temptation or make the correct choice. And yet, sometimes we fall into the trap of not applying all that we know. How many times can you think back into your own life or observe in the life of someone else where you look around and don’t even know how you ended up in the circumstances you now face? You think to yourself, “I knew better. I knew the Truth. How did this happen?” Our knowledge is only “truly useful when applied.”
“But if you look carefully into the perfect law that sets you free, and if you do what it says and don’t forget what you heard, then God will bless you for doing it.” James 1:25
This blog was written by Amy Carrico: Author of Making the Moments Matter Blog
Last Updated on May 13, 2024
Great post.