A message from the James 1:1-9 by Don Heatley from Vision Community Church 2/22/09
Let me tell you the story about
Fred, a man who made many decisions throughout his life. When Fred was a child, he decided to
become a great baseball player. In
school, he decided to become a straight-A student. In his twenties, he decided he was going to ask the girl of
his dreams to marry him. In his
thirties, he decided to write that novel he always had in he back of his
mind. As he approached his
forties, he regretted that he could not play a musical instrument, so he
decided to learn to play the guitar.
As Fred moved deeper into middle age, realizing that he had no spiritual
center, he decided to go back to church and get connected with God.
One might say he was a decisive
man. He had made many decisions.
Yet if you looked at Fred’s life when he turned sixty, you would discover that
he never played baseball. He never
excelled at school or continued to college. He never married that girl. He never wrote that novel. He never learned to play the
guitar. He never got connected
with God.
How did that happen? After all, Fred had made all those
decisions throughout his life.
The problem was, Fred never
acted on his decisions. Decisions
are meaningless without action.
You can do the most detailed analysis of every dilemma you face. You can weigh every pro and con,
consult every expert. You can even
be absolutely sure in your own mind that you have come to the right conclusion
or made the right choice. However,
if you never take the steps to act on that decision, it was all pointless.