FROM KNOWING TO DOING: THE BLESSING OF THE DOER

In our knowledge-saturated culture, we've mastered the art of learning but often struggle with the discipline of doing. This disconnect between knowledge and action isn't just a modern problem—it's a timeless challenge that Jesus himself addressed in one of his most powerful parables.

THE FOUNDATION THAT MATTERS

In Jesus' final parable of the kingdom in the Sermon on the Mount, he tells the story of two builders: one who built his house on rock and another who built on sand. Jesus said:

"Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock. But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell with a great crash." (Matthew 7:24-27)

This truth is echoed throughout Scripture. Jesus himself declared: "If you know these things, you will be blessed if you do them" (John 13:17)

What's striking about this parable isn't that one builder was more knowledgeable than the other. Both heard the same message. Both understood the teachings. The difference was simple yet profound: one acted on what he knew, while the other did not.

Jesus doesn't say the wise builder was the one who knew more—he was the one who DID what he knew. Both builders, in fact, had received the same message of the kingdom. But only one translated that knowledge into action.

THE WESTERN EDUCATION TRAP

Our Western emphasis on education, while valuable, has created an unintended consequence: we often confuse knowing something with actually doing it. We've become experts at accumulating information while remaining beginners at implementation.

Consider how this plays out in our spiritual lives. We know extensively about how to read the Bible, but our Bibles gather dust. We understand the promises God makes about tithing and serving, but our wallets stay closed and our hands remain idle. We've substituted knowledge for action, creating what I call "anemic faith"—faith that's informative but not transformative.

James understood this tension when he wrote:

"What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if someone claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save them? ... But someone will say, 'You have faith; I have deeds.' Show me your faith without deeds, and I will show you my faith by my deeds." (James 2:14, 18)

True biblical faith isn't measured by what we know but by what we do—our love for the poor, our willingness to take sacrificial action on the things we've learned.

We've traded a life of disciplined action for a constant approach of learning. But here's the truth that can change everything: what you know will never take you as far as what you do.

THE CRITICAL STEP OF DISCIPLESHIP

Translating knowledge into action is the critical step of discipleship that will transform your life. When you begin to take consistent action on what you learn, you step into the blessing promised to the doer.

So what does it look like to be a person who moves toward action with everything you learn? Let me share three practical steps:

STEP 1: ALWAYS CONSIDER THE APPLICATION

Whenever I learn something new, I'm constantly thinking about its application—even when the communicator doesn't provide one. As a preacher and teacher, I try to incorporate three components into every message: the presence of God (Holy Spirit ministry), inspiration to know God more deeply, and a clear next step.

I remember hiking in the Appalachians, exhausted from my first experience with pack hiking. As we climbed the tallest mountain of the day, I thought to myself, "The only way to get to the top of this mountain is by taking it one step at a time." Then revelation hit me—that's not just how you climb mountains; that's how you accomplish anything in life.

When the path is clearly set before us, we take the next right step. Discerning that next right step is a key practice of those who live as doers.

STEP 2: DISCERN THE DESTINATION

Using my mountain climbing metaphor, it's not only helpful to know the next right step—it's also crucial to see where you want to end up. Envisioning your desired outcome produces motivation in the heart, whether that's a life of purpose, greater spiritual health and well-being, or some eternal promise from God's Word.

We need both clarity on the next step and vision of the final destination.

STEP 3: RECOGNIZE THAT CONSISTENCY IS KEY

Many coaches say "practice makes perfect," but I once heard a mentor adapt that saying: "Practice doesn't just make perfect—practice makes permanent." Whatever you consistently do becomes a habit in your life.

When we discern the next right step and avoid procrastination, we set ourselves in motion toward our ultimate destination. The vision of where we're going inspires our hearts and produces the consistency we need.

THE BEAUTIFUL FLEXIBILITY

These three elements can be engaged in whatever order makes sense for you personally. Doers engage all three, but in the sequence that fits their temperament:

• Visionaries often begin with the final destination

• Practical people prefer starting with the next right step  

• Process-oriented individuals think first about what will produce consistency and habit

When you combine all three in whatever order works for you, you become a doer.

A PRACTICAL EXAMPLE: DAILY TIME WITH GOD

Let's apply this framework to developing a daily time with God. You hear an inspiring message at church and think, "I want to begin reading the Bible and praying every day."

• NEXT RIGHT STEP: "Tomorrow I'm going to rise at 7 AM and start my day with prayer."

• FINAL DESTINATION: You hold the vision of becoming a person of the Word and prayer. Billy Graham once said in a 1977 interview with Christianity Today: "One of my great regrets is that I have not studied enough. I wish I had studied more and preached less." If Billy Graham had such an aspiration, perhaps he knew something about the value of God's Word that we need to discover. You envision a life without regret, deeply knowing God, confident that when you see Jesus face-to-face, you can truly say, "I knew you and I sought you all the days of my life."

• CONSISTENCY: You map out how you'll maintain this daily time over the next six weeks. Psychologists and behavioral coaches tell us that it takes an average of 66 days for a new behavior to become automatic—not the popular myth of 21 days. As Charles Duhigg explains in The Power of Habit, habits are formed through a loop of cue, routine, and reward, and "when a habit emerges, the brain stops fully participating in decision making". This means that habits formed through consistent practice become cravings rather than disciplines—you actually miss them when you skip them.

THE CALL TO ACTION

If we follow these three steps, we'll begin to live a life of consistently doing, not just knowing. We'll step into the blessing that belongs to the doer—the one who builds their house on the rock of applied truth rather than the shifting sand of mere information.

The question isn't whether you know enough. The question is: what will you do with what you already know? Your life will be transformed not by the next piece of information you acquire, but by your next act of obedience to what you've already learned.

The doers are those who are blessed. Which will you choose to be?