Friday, March 13. Matthew 21:28-32.

Have you ever found that there is a big gap between what you say you want to do and what you actually do? Are you a “sayer” or a “doer?”

It is one thing to say that you are going to train every day and run a marathon at the end of the year, and it is a different thing to actually do it. It is one thing to say that you are going cut out sweets and drop a few pounds, but it is a different thing to actually do it.

Jesus’ parable in today’s reading speaks to this. His point is that it is better to actually do something than it is to say you are going to do it and not. The really scandalous part of Jesus’ parable is not the lesson itself, but those to whom he is speaking the parable. Jesus is talking to the religious leaders. In other words, Jesus is saying to them,

“You say you want to honor and serve God, but all you have done is honor and serve yourself. The people who you call ‘sinners’ are the ones who actually listen to God and do what God calls us to do. They walk in humility, repentance, and love for one another.”

Here is a simple challenge for us today. Be careful what you say you are going to do. It is better to actually do something and let people notice that you’ve done it, than to announce to the world the great things you are going to do, and then not follow through. Be a doer, not a sayer.