There is a reason that Missouri is known as the 'Show Me' State.
According to the Missouri Secretary of State's Office, the state slogan is 'unofficial', (so what if it the 'unofficial' slogan is on every Missouri license plate!) and its origins unconfirmed. If you need that in writing because you are a 'Show Me' kind of person, you can look in the Official Manual of the State of Missouri, 1979-1980, page 1486.
According to the 'Show Me' legend, U.S. Congressman Willard Duncan Vandiver, who served in the House of Representatives from 1879-1903 was attending an 1899 Naval banquet in Philadelphia. In a speech there he declared, "I come from a sate that raises corn and cotton and cocklerburs and Democrats, and frothy eloquence neither convinces me nor satisfied me. I am from Missouri. You have got to show me!" Although unconfirmed and unofficial, his speech popularized the saying for sure.
"Do not merely listen to the Word and deceive yourselves. Do what it says." James 1:22
Actions matter to God and they should matter to you.
What you DO makes a difference to God and to others. What you DO validates the worth of your proclamations, platitudes and promises. What you DO is the compelling factor that draws people to faith in Christ or a repelling reality that stymies faith of those in search of Him. One of the problems of listening to sermons and speeches is that...you listen to sermons and speeches! Listening is the starting point, ("Faith comes by hearing the message and the message is heard through the word of Christ." Romans 10:17), but it is not the ending point. Hearing is the launching point that leads to action...from a transformed heart that is applied in the venue of real life...in your marriage, with your children, at the office, around your neighborhood...and in your church.
I have often wondered how the people of Israel could stand for the majority of the day listening to the Word of God (read the Books of Ezra and Nehemiah and you will be 'shown') without sitting! They stood the whole while as the Scripture was read, explained and applied in their hearing so that a specific outcome would result...they would DO what they heard! The did not have pews, theater seats or lawn chairs...God spoke to them...and off they went to their families, tribes, clans, villages, neighborhoods and houses. Why?
To DO something! There was a time to listen and there was a time to live! There was a time to absorb and then a time to be poured out. There was a time to learn and then came the time to apply. Be careful that you do not simply read the Word with the notion that all you have needed is now completed!
"As the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without deeds is dead." James 2:26
You say you are a Christian? Prove it! DO something to validate your identity. 'Show' some credentials that substantiate your claim. Put your words in action. Get your belief out of a 'system' and into the mainstream! You say you are going to heaven? Prove it! Live a life worthy of the name of the Christ whose name you bear. You say you love God? Prove it! Engage in meeting needs and expressing His compassion, prompted by a true love for Him that is expressed in your school, on your street, in your city and beyond. You say you have 'faith'? Prove it! Take a walk on the wild side and trust God when everyone else in trusting in yet another government bailout.
Guess whose watching what you DO?
"Nothing in all creation is hidden from His sight. Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of Him to Whom we must give account." Hebrews 4:13
I wonder who came up with that 'the proof is in the pudding' phrase. He must have been at that Naval banquet with Missouri Congressman Vandiver!
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