Application is Proof That You Know What You Say You Know

Wisdom is the right use of knowledge.  To know is not to be wise.  Many men know a great deal, and are all the greater fools for it.  There is no fool so great a fool as a knowing fool.  But to know how to use knowledge is to have wisdom.  Charles Spurgeon.

I have lived much of my life with men who love to debate.  My husband is a pastor.  My firstborn can reason logic right out the window and down the street and be right.  My second born is a college professor with a love for music and must reason with the 'educated' on how important it is to keep the arts in the world of academia.  My third son should have been a lawyer.  He could state his case for anything, and spot the hypocrisy in his opponent (usually me), leaving him/her/me with mouth open in speechless defense. (Darn it.)
Thus said, life has taught me that knowledge is not really knowledge until it is applied.  Application is everything. Without it, there is no proof in that pudding and no leg to stand on...so I guess without application you are hopping around in a bowl of ignorant pudding. (I know that makes no sense, but it's funny.)
Those days of iron sharpening iron on a regular basis have slowed.  My comeback skills have become dull and most days I wonder just how long I have before dementia sets in.  The books I am reading have driven home one distinctive truth and while I'm encouraged by the author's words, it is the attachment of scripture to his/her thoughts that cements the point.  If we are not applying God's word in our every day lives, then we do not really know what we think we know.  Knowledge is textbook. Wisdom is application.
I can walk around all day, every day, nodding at the truths in scripture as if I've got them nailed.  If however, I'm not practicing what I know, it's all for NOTHING.  It profits me zero.  And if it is true that what I know is just hidden inside me and not flowing out, then I fall into the trap James warns us about.
James 1:22  "But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves."
Paul also writes to us:
Romans 2:13  "For it is not the hearers of the law who are righteous before God, but the doers of the law who will be justified."
I don't want to just know what Jesus said.  I want to live what Jesus said.  This means I will change. It means not measuring myself against anyone to see if I am capable of the job in front of me.  It means doing it, knowing that God said He would equip me, ready me, and that I must embrace any weaknesses I have and be thankful for them, because it is then that Christ takes over with His strength.  I am going to love my weaknesses from now on.  God gave them to me on purpose.  They are gifts to demonstrate His great ability, not mine.
2 Corinthians 12:9-10  'But he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong.'
Christians must wake up and smell the coffee.  (I'm always telling you to smell something. Sorry.) We are at war and our weapon is God's holy word and...yep, that's it really. Couple that with your faith in Jesus and His righteousness and you are ready for battle. The war begins when we start applying what we learn in scripture.  Don't be unarmed because you can't quote the verses.  Learn them.
This isn't a challenge; it is a warning.  Life is going to get tougher and we will all be believing small lies if we can't speak what we know is true. We can boast of nothing before the Lord.  We are the hands and feet of Christ and He has given us this huge responsibility.  We can do it because He is alongside us and will help us. He promised.
Hebrews 13:20-21  Now may the God of peace who brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, the great shepherd of the sheep, by the blood of the eternal covenant, equip you with everything good that you may do his will, working in us that which is pleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen.