Less Talk - More Action!

Matthew 8: 1When Jesus came down from the mountainside, large crowds followed him. 2 A man with leprosy came and knelt before him and said, “Lord, if you are willing, you can make me clean.” 3 Jesus reached out his hand and touched the man. “I am willing,” he said. “Be clean!”Immediately he was cleansed of his leprosy. 4 Then Jesus said to him, “See that you don’t tell anyone. But go, show yourself to the priest and offer the gift Moses commanded, as a testimony to them.” 

I've read that account several times but when I read it two days ago, I perceived it differently. Previously, I've wondered why Jesus didn't want the man to tell anyone. If I had just received healing from a pain-inducing, body crippling disease that marked me as an outcast, you better believe I'd turn into the town's own Henny Penny. So, why the silence? 

Because it wasn't about telling, it was about showing. Does it do any good for me to tell you that I care about you and then spit in your face? What about a man that beats his wife within an inch of her life, then whispers that he loves her as she lay in a pool of her own blood. Certainly, the truth is obvious without words. 

I like how verse four reads in The Message Bible: Jesus said, “Don’t talk about this all over town. Just quietly present your healed body to the priest, along with the appropriate expressions of thanks to God. Your cleansed and grateful life, not your words, will bear witness to what I have done.” 

Our actions bear witness. Our actions reveal the evidence. 
Actions sing from the rooftops what words merely whisper in the cellar. 

Live a life of action, for our actions paint a vivid picture of our heart when words evaporate into nothingness. 

Smile :) donnamusing