Re:Verse reading–Acts 13:1-52 (day three)
“Take care that what the prophets have said does not happen to you.” The reason Jesus appeared so extreme—even anti-scriptural—to his contemporaries is that his life was exactly what a human life looked like when lived the way the law and the prophets teach us to live. We’re all pro-Bible, we’re all pro-God, blah, blah, blah. But theory isn’t practice. Everybody wants to go to heaven but nobody wants to die, as blues artist Albert King sang. We can talk about the Bible; Jesus lived it. The fulfillment of the law was the perfect man who would show us what the law looked like in practice. Paul’s chilling words point us to the good news that Jesus will teach us how to live the kind of life he himself lived.
Great reminder! Don’t forget praxis. Reading the Bible is good. Hearing God’s Word is good. Fellowship is good. Talking about Jesus is good. Reflection on God’s principles is good. But unless we practice what God teaches us, we are not helpful and useful. Until we practice what we learn or read about, theory is an entertainment.
From knowledge of the Scriptures to becoming practitioners requires personal engagement to some extent; and that brings us to praxis. Engagement will lead us to the point of becoming doers and not just hearers, talkers, or listeners.
Human beings have so many basic needs. People with disabilities have different needs. Younger and older people have different needs. Newborns have different needs. The needy have specific needs. Every generation has basic needs. Jesus was Chief Actions. Believers are His ears, hands, arms and legs. We are the body of Christ. God can utilize any of our body parts.
Practicing Christians are doers, sharing God’s resources and using spiritual skills to help others and to advance Jesus’s mission. Do we have practicing and non-practicing Christians? The Bible gives us God’s standards for praxis performance.
This is a season of charitable actions. This is a perfect season for praxis, a perfect opportunity to share God’s blessings with people in need and with people we love and care for. Unless we do and act the Jesus’s way, we cannot spread the good news about Jesus. In some small ways, in whatever way, financial and non-financial, we can act on and share God’s blessings to others, do it! Sharing is caring and is an act of praxis!
Don’t forget praxis in this giving season!! Scriptures should lead to actions with positive outcomes. Praxis is the way. Jesus is the way. Actions count!! The heart counts! The quality of one’s heart weighs more than any numbers! I am convinced!!