Welcome to the Set Your Mind Above podcast, where every day, ordinary events teach us extraordinary eternal truths! I am your host BJ Sipe, and I’m so glad you’ve tuned in today! I am excited to share my life & my faith with you, and I sure hope you’ll do the same with me along the way.

Last night, Kylie made me my favorite thing for dinner: breakfast. I have always been a big breakfast food fan, in fact anywhere that we eat out if there is a 24 hour breakfast menu then you can bet I will be ordering something off of it. It was a feast – perfectly crisp bacon, scrambled eggs with peppers & potatoes mixed in, and brown sugar pancakes that are out of this world. We sat around the table and started to dig in, until Dane started to do his typical dinner time routine. Almost every night, Dane decides he does not want what is on his tray, he would much rather have what is on your plate instead. It doesn’t matter if it’s the exact same thing, he will refuse to eat what is in front of him and protest our insistence that he does. The protesting is different every night – sometimes it’s him banging his head on the back of the high chair, sometimes it’s kicking his feet, but more often than not he will pick up a fist full of food and throw it on the ground. That is exactly what he started to do. I will give him this, that boy is gonna grow up to be a quite the baseball player – he’s cleared 5-6 feet with his food sometimes when he chucks it. Kylie and I went into parent mode, telling him no and trying to stop him before he could launch the food. But then the following happened that had us doing our best to contain our laughter. I got his attention from across the table, wagged my finger and shook my head saying, “No, no Dane” as he prepared another handful. He made eye contact, started shaking his head and proceeded to wag his finger at everyone at the table, saying “No, no” while also at the same time hurling his food toward the wall once again. He had my words down pat, my same serious face and the perfect finger wag – but he wasn’t actually doing what I said. I didn’t want him to just say, “No, no”, I wanted him to do “No, no” so to speak. Then Ava started in, wagging her finger and saying no also. Do you ever feel as a mom or dad like you’re living with a bunch of parrots, just repeating what you say without any real understanding? That’s how it felt last night at the dinner table. Needless to say, we had a little bit of clean up to do after dinner. I think I’ve decided Dane’s primary chore for when he’s old enough: sweeping, moping, and vacuuming the floor. Sucker. 
 
 While I have enjoyed sharing this comical story with you, what is far less comical is the fact that sometimes I believe as God’s children we can behave in the exact same way. We can be like Christian parrots, repeating the teachings and truths contained within God’s Word to others without actually obeying them ourselves. Consider this serious warning that Paul issued to those who boasted as teachers of the Law in Romans 2:17-24, “But if you call yourself a Jew and rely on the law and boast in God and know his will and approve what is excellent, because you are instructed from the law; and if you are sure that you yourself are a guide to the blind, a light to those who are in darkness, an instructor of the foolish, a teacher of children, having in the law the embodiment of knowledge and truth— you then who teach others, do you not teach yourself? While you preach against stealing, do you steal? You who say that one must not commit adultery, do you commit adultery? You who abhor idols, do you rob temples? You who boast in the law dishonor God by breaking the law. For, as it is written, “The name of God is blasphemed among the Gentiles because of you.” 

It does us absolutely no good to know the will of God if we do not also do the will of God. True, genuine faith is evidenced by a changed life, as we discussed yesterday. In fact, James would say in his letter that faith without works is a dead faith. And yet I am afraid that many churches are full of tombs, housing in them disciples that believe themselves to be righteous and yet are far from it. If you read Scripture daily and grow in knowledge consistently, but never actually live the truths you are learning, you have gained nothing. If you stand up and preach to others about discipleship and following Jesus, but you yourself do not follow him in your own life, you will gain nothing. Jesus asked this very profound question in his ministry, “Why do you call me ‘Lord, Lord,’ and not do what I tell you? Everyone who comes to me and hears my words and does them, I will show you what he is like: he is like a man building a house, who dug deep and laid the foundation on the rock. And when a flood arose, the stream broke against that house and could not shake it, because it had been well built. But the one who hears and does not do them is like a man who built a house on the ground without a foundation. When the stream broke against it, immediately it fell, and the ruin of that house was great.” (Luke 6:46-49) Jesus is not truly the Lord of our life unless he is Lord of all of our life. I do not merely repeat his teachings in vain, but I live them day in and day out. What he says we will act upon in every area of our life. Jesus is the master of our marriage, our work ethic, our finances, our worship, our habits, everything. Being a Christian is not about just attending a worship service and repeating words. It is about living out the gospel day in and day out in our lives. The Good Shepherd didn’t call parrots, he called sheep – and he called them to follow him. 

Thank you so much for listening to today’s episode. Tune in, Tuesday-Friday’s, as a new podcast episode will be uploaded each day. Also, be sure to follow the Facebook page for the Set Your Mind Above podcast for future announcements and weekly video sessions that are uploaded on Saturdays. As you have the opportunity, share these thoughts with your friends and family, and share with me what important lessons you are learning from every day, ordinary events. Until next time know that I love you, that God loves you, and may we all each and every day set our minds above!