Yeah, I Know

"Yeah, I know."
"Just a minute."
These are common responses in my household.

"You have dishes to do."
 ~"Yeah, I know."
"We have to go!"
~ "Yeah, I know."
"Time for supper."
~ "Just a minute."

The dirty dishes still sit on the counter.
The clock ticks, minutes pass, and we're late.
Supper gets cold.

And so it goes. We all do it. We all say it.

"Yeah, I know. Just a minute."

But if we're not careful, our words become our attitudes (and inversely, our attitudes become our words). Our hearts begin to follow a pattern of apathy.
We get lazy in our convictions.
We allow indifference to hover as a fog.
It clouds our vision and blocks our path.
It makes us numb and lifeless.

And here is where it hurts the most ...
We say, "Yeah, I know." But then we don't live what we know.
We say, "Just a minute." But don't remember that one minute passes onto the next and what we miss in the delaying could be vital.
We say we believe something.
Yet, we stop there.
We think we're good with that alone.

We go to church. We follow the rules.
We do what is right, say what is good, but then stop before relationship takes over.
But what if, we surrender all to Jesus and let Him truly dwell in us?
"Remain in Me and I will remain in you." (John 15:4, NLT)
Relationship.

We do what is comfortable, careful not to offend, worried that others may frown on us, and we hold back something that is worth sharing.
But what if we live in boldness and confidence, tender yet strong, standing up for truth and things that are good and right?
"Stand your ground, putting on the belt of truth and the body armor of God's righteousness." (Ephesians 6:14, NLT)
Resolute.

We become satisfied in keeping our foot in the door and never moving into the room.
What if we enter in with our whole selves, mind, body, spirit, ~ in our wholeness, bare and vulnerable, open and willing ~ and present ourselves to our King with humility and admiration?
"Let us come boldly to the throne of our gracious God. There we will receive His mercy, and we will find grace to help us when we need it most." (Hebrews 4:16, NLT)
Receive.

We hold the door open for Jesus, and then wave as we watch His back pass by.
What if we follow Him through, breathe in His aroma, live in His love, rest in His hope, move in His power, get to really know Him.
"For in Him we live and move and have our being." (Acts 17:28, NIV)
Respond.

What if we state what we know, and then live it out in this moment?

What if we live out our faith in love and boldness; in connectedness and receptiveness; in giving and receiving; in the way that Jesus lived and loved?

Yeah, I know.
~ Live the knowing.
Just a minute.
~ The time is right now.

Let me tell you what I know:
We can have relationship with God. We can stand resolute in our faith and His truth. We can receive mercy and forgiveness through Jesus. We can respond with gratefulness, with love, with zeal.
God is love. God is good. He is passionate. He is strong. He is tender. He is compassionate. He is kind. He is faithful. And He has created us to be the same.

My response to that?

To live like I'm loved
~ because I am loved.
To love like He lived
~ because He lived love. 
 To live my faith
~ because it has to go beyond just saying I know about God, and cross over to saying, I know God.

Dishes sit on my counter and pile up, used and disregarded. We know they need to be washed. But they will sit dirty until we get our hands into that soapy water, swipe the dishcloth over them, scrub off the crusty stuff, and set the clean dish back into the cupboard.
This we know.
But then we must live it out. Do the work. Do it soon.
It's one thing to say we know; it's a whole other thing to follow through, be and do.