I’m not sure what brought you to this article. Maybe you are afraid to take action, waiting for the perfect time to take action, or trying to clarify what God wants you to take action with. Regardless of your reason, The Bible makes it clear that taking action is something God wants us to do.
In this article we’ll look at 3 reasons God wants us to take action. I hope these 3 reasons help you to get closer to doing what God has called you to do.
God Works Through Us To Get Things Done
The first reason God wants us to take action may seem shocking, but based on The Bible it’s certainly true. The reason is God works through us to get things done. In Genesis where it documents God creating mankind, God said something that can easily be taken for granted.
Genesis 1:26 (NIV) says:
‘Then God said, “Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness, so that they may rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky, over the livestock and all the wild animals, and over all the creatures that move along the ground.”
God created us so that we may rule over what he made. He didn’t say “let them help us rule over…”, instead He delegated authority to us to manage the earth; it’s the original reason he created us.
God Needed Moses To Take Action
A great example of God working through us to get things done is when he needed Moses to take action to rescue the Israelites from Egypt. When God reached out to Moses, he told him:
“I have indeed seen the misery of my people in Egypt. I have heard them crying out because of their slave drivers, and I am concerned about their suffering.
So I have come down to rescue them from the hand of the Egyptians and to bring them up out of that land into a good and spacious land, a land flowing with milk and honey…”
Exodus 3:7-8 (NIV)
Notice that God told Moses that he came down to rescue them. But then in verse 10, He told Moses “So now, go. I am sending you to Pharaoh to bring my people the Israelites out of Egypt” (Exodus 3:10 NIV). How is it that God said He came to rescue them but then tells Moses to do it? It’s because God works through us to get things done!
There are many other examples in The Bible of God wanting people to take action to accomplish His will. There was Abraham, The Prophets, and God himself through Jesus to name a few!
We Are The Body of Christ
You may have heard that the church is considered the body of Christ. This analogy is from 1 Corinthians 12 where Paul reminds us that we should work together as different parts of the same body. This analogy perfectly describes our connection as humans to God. Like we need a body to operate in this world, so does God need bodies to accomplish his will on earth.
So what is it that God wants to get done through you? Are you trying to avoid it? Like the Israelites, there are people in the world crying out to God. Some are wondering why He doesn’t make certain things happen. He hears them and may want to do something. But to do so he needs people like you and I to take action!
God Doesn’t Want Us To Deceive Ourselves
The next reason God wants us to take action is that he doesn’t want us to deceive ourselves. This reason takes me back to when I first started reading because I actually wanted to.
Whether it was The Bible or some other book, I read more out of pride rather than for the benefits the books could bring me. As a result, I would go through books as quickly as possible just to say I read it. So not much stuck to the point that I applied it to my life. I was wasting my time.
I’m not sure if I came to my senses all on my own or if discovering James 1:22 transformed my thinking. It says “Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says” (NIV). That one verse states exactly what I was doing and highlights another reason God wants us to take action. When we don’t take action with what we know we deceive ourselves and God doesn’t want us to do that.
We Are Blessed When We Take Action
James 1 goes on to explain that we are blessed when we take action. More specifically it says “But whoever looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues in it—not forgetting what they have heard, but doing it—they will be blessed in what they do” (James 1:25 NIV).
We are not blessed by knowing the Word of God or knowing anything for that matter. We are blessed in the things we take action in.
We Are True Disciples When We Take Action
When it comes to taking action, The Bible also says we are true disciples when we do. It should come as no surprise that there are some people who say they are believers but don’t act like they are; we may have all started that way. But one time when Jesus was speaking to some Jews, he told them “If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples” (John 8:31 NIV).
In some translations, it says “abide” instead of “hold” which means “accept or act in accordance with” (Oxford). So God also wants us to take action to prove our beliefs rather than deceive ourselves by claiming one thing but doing another.
God Gets Glory When We Take Action
The last reason God wants us to take action is that He gets the glory when we do.
After telling his disciples that people don’t cover a light they’ve lit but instead place it on a stand so that it gives light to all, Jesus said “In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven” (Matthew 5:16 NIV).
Notice from the verse that Jesus said we should do good deeds visibly for others to see them and give God glory. Like the creator of a product gets glory when their product performs wonderfully, so does God get glory when we (His creation) do good deeds.
Doing good deeds is a form of taking action. When people see believers standing out by their actions, they’ll think to themselves that these people are different and inturn give glory to God since it’s God that we believers serve.
Conclusion
Taking action is a key component to our God given purpose as humans. God gave us the power and is depending on us to fulfill his will on the earth. Let’s not deceive ourselves by knowing what we should do and not do it. Let your light shine so that others may see and give God glory!
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Great article and biblical sources to back up your statement. Been looking for something to share with someone very close to me that would help them realize that God opens doors for us but its up to us to walk through it. Thank you again.
Excellent Mark! Happy to hear this will help you. Thanks for stopping by.