Pastor Stephen Kingsley walked into a restaurant to have a warm bowl of chili. It was freezing outside… the snow piling up just outside the front door. He walked to the counter, ordered his food and coffee, and waited patiently. In the corner of the room, an image on the television caught his eye. It was a closeup of a fireplace… it’s flames dancing randomly across the screen. He says that maybe it was just because it was cold outside… but he couldn’t take his eyes off the video fireplace.
Have you ever seen anything like that? A fake fireplace? All image but no heat? Maybe not, but you might have known someone like that. All commitment, no execution. All talk, no action. All carrying on, but no carrying out. The Bible tells us not to be like that phony fireplace on the screen in James 1:22 “Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says.” James tells us… don’t just look the part… don’t just say the words… don’t just promise yourself you’ll change… actually do it! Be the real deal! The world isn’t looking for fake fireplaces… they are looking for genuine believers fired up to be the light in this dark world.
