#161: Not Just Thinking, But Doing

Published by Ben Stahl on September 21, 2021September 21, 2021

“Then they said to one another, “We are not doing right. This day is a day of good news, and we remain silent. If we wait until morning light, some punishment will come upon us. Now therefore, come, let us go and tell the king’s household. So they went and called to the gatekeepers of the city, and told them, saying, “We went to the Syrian camp, and surprisingly no one was there, not a human sound – only horses and donkeys tied, and the tents intact.” And the gatekeepers called out, and they told it to the king’s household inside. 

II Kings 7:9-11 NKJV

When I was a child I attended the funeral of an elderly church member. An unbelieving adult daughter of the deceased was present at the funeral and was quite distraught but thankful for the kindness of the church. My mother had prepared much of the luncheon and assisted the daughter in various parts of the day. After most people had left the daughter remained and told my mother how she was so moved by the love of the church to her mother that she was going to start coming to church and get right with the Lord. Later I expressed to my mother what a great event happened with the daughter from her mother’s death. My mother agreed but with a word of caution – the death of loved ones often stirs up great spiritual emotions. Promises and thoughts of ‘getting right with God’ in the future are only meaningful if they are acted upon – if the person actually repents and believes in Christ alone for salvation. I don’t remember ever seeing or hearing about the daughter again.

“The road to hell is paved with good intentions.” This common saying highlights that good intentions without action are useless. Perhaps it was derived from several passages in Scripture like James 2:14-17, “If a brother or sister is poorly clothed and lacking in daily food, and one of you says to them, “Go in peace, be warmed and filled,” without giving them the things needed for the body, what good is that? So also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead.” Or Matthew 25:35, “For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me.’

Or as it relates to salvation, Romans 10:9, “that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.”

Good intentions of doing that which is well pleasing to the Lord without actually doing them are of little value. This is not speaking of those intentions which we set out to do and are providentially hindered but those things we know we should do and we never get about to do them due to a variety of reasons and insincerities. 

This would be a dismal story if the Syrian army were destroyed in front of Samaria, the lepers were outside feasting knowing they had good news to share and telling each other they must tell it to the King and the inhabitants of Samaria, but they decided to feast in the camp many weeks while everyone in Samaria died of starvation. Thankfully that is not what happened. The lepers had great news to share, they knew they must share that great news, so they went and shared it!

Too often I think of doing a good thing for someone and do not do it. I may think of visiting a person and I don’t visit. I consider the need to write to that house-bound saint and I never write or call that sick church member and I don’t call. The Lord is calling me and us all through this passage not to be mere thinkers, talkers, or hearers of God’s will, but doers of it. As James 1:22 so memorably puts it, “But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. 

The day of great news has come to believers. We were slaves to sin and death and have been bought for a price and set free by the blood of Jesus Christ who gave Himself for us. We have heard the call of the gospel and believed in Christ alone for salvation. We want to tell the news to many and live it out each and every day. As we think of these things and of doing good to our fellow believers, overlooking faults, promoting good names, seeking peace and pursuing it, praying without ceasing, reading God’s Word daily, cherishing our spouse, loving our children, let us not stop at those great thoughts, lest we deceive ourselves. Rather, through the power of Christ who gave us a new birth, a new heart, a new will – let us go and do that which God has revealed to us in His holy Word. 

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