Arise therefore, and be doing, and the Lord be with thee. – 1 Chronicles 22:16, KJV

The movie Shenandoah, starring the late Jimmy Stewart, tells the story of widower farmer Charlie Anderson and his family during Civil War times. Although not an overtly Christian movie, the story demonstrates how the prideful Charlie learns just how not in control of his life he is. Through a series of tragedies, he finds humility and faith in God.

During one of the struggles in the movie, Charlie and most of his family set out to rescue his youngest son, Boy, who has been mistaken for a confederate soldier and taken prisoner by Union forces. After a long, unproductive search, Charlie tells his family:

I’ve known since the train that we weren’t liable to find him…Maybe I knew even before we left home, but somehow I just had to try! And if we don’t try, we don’t do. And if we don’t do, why are we here on this earth? (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0059711/quotes)

Indeed, we are on this earth for a reason, and that reason is to do the work of God. Very often we think about doing the work of God, but we never get around to doing it for one reason or another. Sometimes we fail “to do” because we fear. Sometimes we fail “to do” because we overanalyze. And sometimes we fail “to do” because we are distracted by what appears to be more urgent matters. But nothing is more urgent than bringing others to and discipling others in the Word of God, and that is why God (through James) admonishes us in James 1:22 to be doers of the Word and not hearers only.

“To do,” however, doesn’t mean to act in our own will, in our own power, in our own wisdom, or in our own timing. It does mean that when God has shown a clear path, don’t hesitate, don’t ponder, just get to work! When David told Solomon in 1 Chronicles 22:16 to “Arise therefore, and be doing,” in the building of God’s house, it was because God had told David:

Behold, a son shall be born to you who shall be a man of peace…for his name shall be Solomon [peaceable]…He shall build a house for My Name… (1 Chronicles 22:9-10, Amplified Bible)

Has God shown you a clear path of action? Arise, therefore, and be doing!