Abigail Adams (1744-1818) was the wife of John Adams, the second president of the United States. She wrote in a letter to her husband, “We have too many high sounding words, and too few actions that correspond with them.” In other words, talk is cheap.
Unfortunately this practice of saying the right things but not following up with right actions was not new in her day. Almost two thousand years ago Jesus remarked, “This people draws nigh unto me with their mouth, and honors me with their lips; but their heart is far from me. But in vain they do worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men.” The people gave the impression of upholding the highest standards in faith and practice in what they said, but in their hearts and by their actions they were not so doing.
Jesus was actually quoting what God had pointed out to Isaiah many years before. “Wherefore the Lord said, Forasmuch as this people draw near me with their mouth, and with their lips do honor me, but have removed their heart far from me, and their fear toward me is taught by the precept of men. Therefore, behold, I will proceed to do a marvelous work among this people, even a marvelous work and a wonder: for the wisdom of their wise men shall perish, and the understanding of their prudent men shall be hid.”
Unfortunately in our day, godly thinking is not valued. Folks don’t even go through the motions of worshiping God. As a result, true wisdom is hidden, as was predicted in Isaiah, and the deeds of many are evil. Jesus tells us, “A good man out of the good treasure of the heart brings forth good things: and an evil man out of the evil treasure brings forth evil things. But I say unto you, that every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the day of judgment. For by thy words thou shalt be justified, and by thy words thou shalt be condemned.”
Who hasn’t been tempted to say the wrong thing when provoked? We need to remember that what we actually say is important and will be remembered at the judgment. As the expression goes, choose your words carefully — you may have to eat them. If we truly trust God with all our heart, then when we face a bitter trial, rather than condemning God as so many of those around us do, we rely on God to bring us through the trial, using words similar to those we find in the Psalms. “I will fear no evil, for thou art with me.” Throughout all his tribulations, we are told that “In all this Job did not sin with his lips.” We, too, need to be careful with our words because we will be held accountable for them.
We also will be held accountable if we say and do not, Abigail Adam’s concern. We may impress others with our lofty ideals, but do we actually act on them? Henrik Ibsen, the Norwegian playwright, once said, “A thousand words will not leave so deep an impression as one deed.”
We need to take seriously the warning in the parable that Jesus told to the scribes and Pharisees: “Jesus said: I will tell you a story about a man who had two sons. Then you can tell me what you think. The father went to the older son and said, ‘Go work in the vineyard today!’ His son told him that he would not do it, but later he changed his mind and went. The man then told his younger son to go work in the vineyard. The boy said he would, but he didn’t go. Which one of the sons obeyed his father? ‘The older one,’ the chief priests and leaders answered. Then Jesus told them: You can be sure that tax collectors and prostitutes will get into the kingdom of God before you ever will!”
We must act on our beliefs. Mouthing good words is not enough. Our actions and behavior should be consistent with what we say, for “Actions speak louder than words.” The chief priests and leaders may have spoken of justice, mercy and truth, but they did not demonstrate these principles in their lives, as Jesus later explains. Abigail Adams was correct in her suspicion of the sincerity of those who did not follow up their high sounding words by acting on them. James admonishes us that faith without works is dead — if we have faith, then we should have works that demonstrate that faith.
Are we honoring God with our lips only? Are we worshiping in vain by going through the motions of worship rather than truly believing in God and acting on that belief? Let us whole heartedly trust in the Lord and spend our time working in His service.
John tells us, “Let us not love in word, neither in tongue; but in deed and in truth.” Jesus explains, “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven.” May we be diligent workers in our Lord’s service showing our love by deeds of kindness. May we hear those welcome words, “Well done, good and faithful servant: thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will set thee over many things; enter thou into the joy of thy lord.”
The Origin of the Organic World – Part One