Live What You Believe

“Everyone who hears these words of mine and does not do them will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell, and great was the fall of it.” Matthew 7:26-27

This was Balaam’s problem—he believed one thing and lived another. This is also what James was talking about when he said “You believe that God is one; you do well. Even the demons believe—and shudder!” (Jas. 2:19). But then he goes on to say that faith without deeds is useless.

Balaam had marvelous spiritual experiences. He heard the voice of God, and he actually saw the Lord in a theophany. He spoke the Word of God, but he did not live by it. That is the great challenge for us today.

The issue for many of us today is not about what we believe but about how we behave. We believed in Jesus a long time ago. We believe that He was born of the virgin. We believe that He died on the cross and rose from the dead. We believe that one day He will come again in glory. We know what we believe. The issue we have to face this week is how we behave.

Balaam’s problem was that there was a great chasm between his belief and his behavior. His convictions were one thing, his conduct was another. He spoke the Word of God, and then poured his energies into finding ways to get around it. That’s why he took a plunge to disaster.

What is one way you can better live what you believe today?