Let's Get It Started!

So, today I've been doing something about how you get people to "get it started." And, I don't mean this in the Black Eyed Peas sense of getting ones funk on...dancing around like a mad man. I'm speaking more in the sense of the James 1:22 sense. Need a reminder of James 1:22?

"Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says."

It seems like we've got a lot of Christians these days that have heard the word just fine. But, when it comes to putting these ideals into practice...well, that's a whole different story. And, I know this from a personal sense too. I have a pretty good foundational understanding of the word. However, there are many times where I choose to think instead of act. There are times when I decide to sit around and have wonderful conversations about social action, loving my neighbor and all that jazz instead of actually getting off my bar stool and doing something.

Lately, I've been on the receiving end of people going out of their way to show love for their neighbor. As Emily and I have experienced car trouble, we have had people making wonderful sacrifices for us...offering rides, sending us gifts to help with the cost of getting the car fixed, checking things out to make sure we're not being taken advantage of, looking for grants that can help out, buying us lunch/dinner, praying for us, and just being there for us. It's been incredible.

And, it's been a wonderful reminder to me that I need to always be aware of what's going on around me. I need to be looking for what God is doing and how I can be a part of it. I need to pray that God will open my eyes to see what's going on around me and to know how He wants me to act. Hindsight is 20/20, but the woulda, coulda, shoulda doesn't do much to further the Kingdom. So that's my prayer today, that God would open my eyes to His work and free me from my selfishness so that I will actively be a part of what He is trying to work out in the world around me. I pray that today and everyday I will no longer just be a hearer, but a doer as well!