Actions Speak Louder Than Words

DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL OF MARK

ACTIONS SPEAK LOUDER THAN WORDS

Mark 1:23-28

23 Just then a man in their synagogue who was possessed by an evil spirit cried out, 24 "What do you want with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are — the Holy One of God!" 25 "Be quiet!" said Jesus sternly. "Come out of him!"  26 The evil spirit shook the man violently and came out of him with a shriek. 27 The people were all so amazed that they asked each other, "What is this? A new teaching — and with authority! He even gives orders to evil spirits and they obey him." 28 News about him spread quickly over the whole region of Galilee.

NIV

Sometimes, if not all the times, actions speak louder than words. Because we know the end of the story it is a little more difficult to place ourselves in the time frame of this event. Yet what we are seeing is action does speak louder than words. We could suppose that if the only thing Jesus did was to teach with authority he would eventually become known, but only as a different type of teacher than the people were used to. His messages were not about all the laws the Pharisees kept drilling into the people, but about a relationship with God the Father. They were new and innovative in their approach with parables that connect men and God. Yet if that is all he ever did, he would not accomplish the purpose of his coming to earth. So an action causes things to get rolling much quicker than some words. When he commanded, with authority, an evil spirit the news spread quickly over the whole region of Galilee. So it is with us as well. We can talk until our face turns blue about the love of God, about the truth of God, about sin and the need to repent, about the free salvation of God through faith in Jesus Christ and asking for forgiveness and accepting him as Lord and Savior and we can even speak with authority, but if we don’t back it up with action, the news will not spread very quickly in our region. Now should we go looking for an evil spirit to command, most likely not?  But one came to Jesus, and maybe just maybe when we are speaking with authority and we get a really nasty opposition to the truth, perhaps we need to take action instead of just more words. There is another point here as well. The fact that our actions as believers will spread far more quickly than all the words we could preach. We know this to be true in the sense actions of believers that are perceived as hypocritical spread faster than a speeding bullet and are more powerful than a locomotive. Look up in the church it is hypocritical-man. But if we were to take action, or simply live a life of action which actually reflects the love of God, than the right kind of news would spread quickly all over our region.  If we were to allow the grace of God fill us, that grace, that divine influence on our heart and how it is reflected in our life, than all the people, believers and unbelievers alike would sit up and take notice, and the news about us would spread quickly all over our region. The truth is actions do speak louder than words.