WORDS MAY NOT BE ENOUGH

DAY 283

Jonah 3:10 And God saw their works, that they turned from their evil way; and God repented of the evil, that he had said that he would do unto them; and he did it not.

The primary way you could attempt to win a person over is with your words. Depending on the circumstances and nature of the relationship, very often, words alone might be sufficient. However, when words aren’t enough, the additional layer required is ‘works’.

Therefore, if what I say does not  convince you of where I stand, I can  show you by what I do. This was the approach the people of Nineveh took when they heard Jonah. We read that although they were listening to Jonah, ‘they believed God’. Thus, right from the king to the flock, they set about doing all they could to avert the judgement that had been prophesied. In their doing, God saw their repentance and held back.

Beloved, there is a place for ‘doing’ in our relationship with God and with men. God loves you, there’s no doubt, but He has to trust you before He commits anything substantial to you. It is in your doing that the evidence ‘you can trust the posture of my heart’, becomes visible.

God knew words alone would not be sufficient even for the Gospel, and so as the disciples went out preaching, “the Lord working through them, confirmed his word with accompanying signs”(Mark 16:20).

You cannot sweet-talk God into trust, your doing has to do some talking too.

#sly