But what do you think about this? A man with two sons told the older boy, ‘Son, go out and work in the vineyard today.’ The son answered, ‘No, I won’t go,’ but later he changed his mind and went anyway. Then the father told the other son, ‘You go,’ and he said, ‘Yes, sir, I will.’ But he didn’t go. “Which of the two obeyed his father?” They replied, “The first. (Matt. 21:28-31)

Jesus was driving home a point to everyone here, especially the “religious” people of His day. He used a story to let them come to the realization that hearing and talking alone is cheap. The one brother readily agreed to do what his father asked but didn’t follow through on obedience. The other son said he would not do as the father instructed but ultimately did (obeyed) his father. Jesus, wanted His listeners (and us) to realize that doing is better than just hearing and saying.

You can’t test or try the pudding without eating it. You can’t obey the Lord without actually doing what He tells us to do. I know I have been guilty of hearing His commands and talking the talk of obeying them and yet not following through. But oh how much better it is to actually walk the walk and do as He says! Deuteronomy 28:1 says, “And if you faithfully obey the voice of the Lord your God, being careful to do all his commandments that I command you today, the Lord your God will set you high above all the nations of the earth.” How much more delight there is in obeying our Father God when He speaks to us!

I know the struggle of saying one thing, but doing another. It is one thing that, if we were all honest, we would say can plague our lives. I think that is why James wrote, “But prove yourselves doers of the word, and not merely hearers who delude themselves.” (James 1:22). He knew the ongoing struggle with believers to not only hear the words of the Lord, but to put them into practice. So I want to encourage you today to be a doer!

For me, it was so easy to say "starting tomorrow I am going to do this" or "heading forward I’m not going to do that," but that was just worthless talk when I didn’t act on it. Wanting to be a pleaser of the Lord and a faithful son of God, I have to repent of my shortcomings and trust in and rely on God to help me to be much more than a listener. To be a doer. To take what the Lord has asked of you and see it through to completion by His grace! He has great things in store for you, but we must obey what He asks of us.

I believe God is a great blesser of those who follow Him, but He does require us to hear what He says and do what He asks. Go be a doer of the word because the proof really is in the pudding!

Say It: “Lord, help me to be a doer of the word and not a hearer only! I want to walk in all the blessings that come with being obedient to You! I ask for Your grace to be a doer. In Jesus’ Name, Amen!